Photos: Sumio Yamada
In a grudge match for the vacant WBO featherweight world title, former Olympic medalist Shakur Stevenson (13-0, 7 KOs) easily picked apart Joet Gonzalez (23-1, 14 KOs) over twelve rounds on Saturday night in front of 2,828 fans at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center in Reno, Nevada.
Stevenson was simply too fast for Gonzalez, who wasn’t able to get much offense going. In the end, Stevenson won by scores of 119-109 on all three cards.
“This is a great feeling. One of the best feelings of my life,” said Stevenson. “I have a lot of respect for Joet (his girlfriend’s brother). He is a great fighter. I have nothing against him. If he decides to be cool with me, I’ll be cool with him.”
Stevenson already knows what he wants the next challenge in his career to be.
“Josh Warrington! You are a champion, now I am a champion. Let’s do this! I want to unify titles.”
Stevenson became the first male Olympian from the 2016 Rio Olympic Games to become a world champion.
–
*yawn*
Totally agree glad I watched for free
If you ever have trouble falling asleep just put on a Shaqueer Stevenson fight. I must’ve fallen asleep 3 times the entire fight. Wow…. that was boring!! Add to the fact that he’s extremely disrespectful, low brow, woman beater and dumb as a box of rocks and you have a very unlike able guy with a boring style that networks are trying to hype up as the next best thing. He has no killer instinct and no power. He’s a tiny little boy. I hope no one ever pays to watch this clown fight. Anyone else notice the entire arena boo him after his win? Yeah, so I don’t want to hear how “you don’t know shit about boxing, his skills are phenomenal. It’s not called brawling, it’s boxing”. I don’t care, we tune in to be entertained and entertaining Shaqueer is not.
You actually watched him fight? This kid is only relevant with the ghetto casuals. I watched him for a few rounds in one fight about a year back and knew he was a fraud. He’ll pick up a couple of paper belts because he’ll be steered to weak fighters who are perched up in top 10 positions. Same as Stank Davis. It is all part of the network of fighters in the North American boxing establishment.
Clearly don’t know boxing, you speak bad of tank and says he’s fighting nobody’s but he destroyed an undefeated Pedraza. But you’ll give Loma all the credit in the world for going the distance with Pedraza. This is a boxing form why be ignorant and racist with the ghetto casuals comment?
They only boo’d him because he was fighting in Joet’s backyard. You clearly have no clue, I bet you think Floyd was boring as well? But you’ll praise Pacquiao for getting knocked out by Marquez. And if you watch the video he didn’t hit the woman he reached around and hit the guy.
You are a bigot and racist. You suck. LAME
I shut it off after the third round and guess what? I didn’t miss a thing. The second coming of Mayweather has appeared and we are in for a plethora of W12.
That’s exactly what boxing needs another Mayweather!!! Boxing isn’t the same without but he’s currently retired and all y’all haters y’all so bad about him but y’all continue to mention his name every chance y’all get.
During round two I switched to Lubin-Gallimore….
That was one of the most boring fights of the year. As the A side of the card, I expected Stevenson to take it to Gonzalez and get him in trouble. He was the bigger fighter and seemed to be the harder puncher. Instead, he laid back, moved around a lot, let Gonzalez lunge to reach him, then countered.
It was the same round after round. I almost fell asleep. Hey, maybe I did doze off because the next thing I remember is watching Stevenson being interviewed after the fight.
Someone needs to tell him that to be a big star, you need to be entertaining and give the fans some incentive to watch him again. I became a bigger Devin Haney fan after this fight. He would have never allowed the fight to become a snoozefest. Congratulations to Stevenson, but I need to put a reminder on my calendar just to be sure I don’t watch any of his future fights.
Haters, boxing isn’t about standing and slugging its hit and not be hit. If you’ve never boxed you wouldn’t understand that
I understand that boxing is a sport and the concept is to hit and not get hit. However, it is also entertainment for the fans. If a boxer turns off the fans and doesn’t sell at the gate, not many promoters would be willing to sign them for big fights. It is no coincidence that the biggest moneymakers are usually both great boxers and entertainers.
I just don’t enjoy watching a fighter like Stevenson with so much potential fight so defensively and not take risks. No risk, no reward. That holds true for the boxing game as well. He could have dominated Gonzalez but wouldn’t do it and probably put a lot of watchers to sleep. He won easily but in my opinion lost any momentum he had gained from his previous fight where he looked so impressive.
I agree. Shakur could have ended the fight inside of 6 if he wanted to. I understand he didn’t need to, but I know I won’t be paying for any of his fights until he figures it out.
Tim Bradley repeatedly called him the future of Boxing. If that’s where our Sport is heading, then I’ll be saving money hand over fist.
May be Shakur didn’t want to seriously hurt his girlfriend’s brother. He seemed to keep in about 3rd gear for the whole fight (and is this case he probably had FIVE gears). Joet apparently doesn’t like Shakur, but my personal opinion is that for his girlfriend’s sake, he didn’t want to batter Joet too badly and injure him. Her father said she text him daily and says she loves him. She clearly wants to make peace and Shakur hospitalizing her brother would not have helped that situation. That’s my perspective.
I don’t think so… I think Shakur has all the skills in the World, but he just isn’t the kind of fighter that has a style that will entertain. He reminds me a bit of Winky Wright in that you can see him oozing skills, but the fights are horrible to watch. He’s gonna be one of those guys that can hold belts for years and years and never be in a position to make a ton of money because it just won’t be entertaining to anyone outside of the hardcore boxing World that’s OK with a slippery fighter.
Fighting your Girlfriends Brother is a Mental Challenge
Stevenson got all the reward he needed. He won the belt and immediately challenged to unify the belts. A boxing fan enjoys all types of fighters. It’s their job to figure out how to defeat a good defensive fighter. It was a very entertaining fight.
“If you’ve never boxed”, does that mean my opinion means nothing, nonsense. As a fan we know that boxing is entertainment, we pay our money and we know what we want to see. If you are dominant in a fight you take it to your opponent, who wants to see a fighter do the same thing round after round. Step it up, all that talk and hype and that’s what you give us!!
ACE as someone who has boxed, there is an amateur way to win a fight (running, backing up, engaging while running) and a pro way( actually hurting your opponent, making your opponent back up, being offensive first, actually throwing a meaningful punch). Shakur is no Mayweather and never will be. He is a coddled fighter who called out the weakest champion in his division (Warrington). The second this kid steps up against a legit pro he will be exposed. However, with his management that may not be for another 10 years
You’re right you can’t knock everybody out and Joet has an excellent amateur background and he’s a decent pro. Stevenson has been showing power lately and people have to understand he’s only 22 he hasn’t hit his peak yet. Everybody praises Loma but he didn’t turn pro until his late 20’s so he came in the game fully peaked.
Everybody will be exposed; Spence, Wilder, Stevenson…. as soon as they all step up. Who should he call out? He was the mandatory for Oscar Valdez who decided he couldn’t make the weight anymore (but could make it for a unification with Worington that’s his words not mine). That leaves Gary Russell Jr which I’m sure Bob isn’t going to risk this young kid against a seasoned champion who can give this guy all he can handle and then some. It’s too risky a fight to make at this point. Leo Santa Cruz is now at 130 so who is there? King Tug? He’s even less proven then Worington and Stevenson. The young man is talented and still learning. He’s got 13 fights and people expect him to be an all time great. He will eventually start to sit down on his punches more and turn over that right hook. Not to mention he’s going to peak in a few years as his body matures. Damn. We expect everyone to come out the gates as an all time great now.
I get and agree with your point about Stevenson, but think using Wilder and Spence as fighters who will be exposed when they step up doesn’t fit. Spence defeated Kell Brook on his home turf and just went toe to toe with the always tough Porter. I know Crawford is the fight we want, but who else is a step up and for that matter who has TC beaten at Welterweight?
As for Wilder, he beat Ortiz who was still feared and surely you have to consider Fury one of the best in the Division. (I thought it was a correct Decision) Plus, assuming he defeats an older version of Ortiz, he’s already signed to rematch Fury. Who would be a step up beyond those two? Additionally, unlike Stevenson, Wilder’s flaws are obvious and yet he continues to win.
There are different style fighters in the game and you knew what Stevenson brung to the table. Just another chance to bad-mouth another fighter on the coincidental list. You’ll already got an excuse for why Stevenson shouldnt get the matchups to unify. Mayweather is the most successful recent fighter and people said the same thing. And Couldnt stop paying to complain. Go watch Gatti old fights if thats all you want. Plenty other boxers running-in head-first for you to enjoy.
The guy dominated every second of the fight and won a world title in his 13th fight? You definitely don’t appreciate the technical aspect of the sport.
From the generally negative reviews, I am glad that I did not give in and subscribe to ESPN’s cash grab ESPN+. No one cares about titles much anyway, They are a dime a dozen today.
No doubt SS is incredibly talented, we will definitely hear about him for time to come,,I reserve my judgment of him since he barely has 14 fights or so,,he has a winner’s team with Crawford and Ward,, it will be interesting to follow his career, as to the fight with Gonzalez, SS simply did what was best for him to win, Gonzalez was one dimensional and SS figured him out easily, I’m mexican and I was rooting for JG, but SS showed enormous potential, I don’t want to jump the gun as many people has done in the past with fighters that appear headed to stardom, one that comes to mind immediately is AB, Bronner, so the fight wasn’t entertaining to the common fan,, but for us the hardcore fans, we know what we saw, congrats to the new WBO featherweight champ.
I didn’t see the fight but I felt like Gonzalez won the fight by a wide margin.
Stevenson is not going to be the next big exciting thing in boxing, Mayweather only got important after he beat Gatti, and could have been DQ’d vs Judah when his uncle entered the ring after a low blow, but like usual, the higher powers always looked out for him, like in the 1st Castillo fight and the 1st Maidana fight, both could have been draws, and the Castillo fight could have been a loss (but his shoulder was bad). As for Stevenson, he is in a low weight class, 126. Those guys never carry big huge pay per view names in boxing. Unless he is like Manny, from 122 to 130, he won’t gain the following as a superstar. Manny was super from 122 to 130 (20-1-2 (17 KOs) at those weights).
P.S., Stevenson was fighting his girlfriend’s brother, and the entire family doesn’t like it. So this was brewing as a grudge fight for the brother, but he couldn’t do anything against Stevenson’s defense, he had his chance.
Open letter to Joet.
Joet,
Dude, you lost. Things happen. We all have a bad day at the office. Suck it up. You are flooded with talent.
Boxing is not everything. Family is much more important. I respect you for being good to your mom, dad, and brothers. But don’t be a dick by disowning your own sister. Makeup with her, and welcome Shakur into the family. He is going to be your brother in law. He is going to be the father of your future nephews and nieces. Show the world you are not prejudiced against blacks, nor jealous of Shakur. INVITE him into the family. Roll out the red carpet. Give him the love and respect he deserves. As long as he treats your sister and their kids right, be good to him. You have a lot to gain with a future brother in law like that. He will move up in weight. You can win a world title soon. Don’t be a dick. Be ethical and intelligent.
You are a good guy. You are a cool dude. Prove it.
Thank you,
Jonathan
We called this fight, this was a gift belt for Stevenson, he will now have ten defenses against taxi drivers, this is joke boxing!!
More fighters should fight like Stevenson! So they can live to see another day.
Shakur carried Joet as a favor to Joet’s sister. He could have got Joet out of there at any time.
Some say Joet won the fight…..
Maybe Gonzalez, a previously undefeated fighter and top prospect in his own right, was good enough and dangerous enough to warrant being careful.. if you went into work tomorrow and your boss said if you don’t do something spectacular today you’re fired, how the fuck would that make you feel? Even worse, if you went for that spectacular move and it failed everyone would call you dumb for trying… These guys careers are always hangin by a thread.. gotta be a thinker.. trying to appease blood thirsty fans is a good way to a short career.. oh, but you’ll have the respect of some guys who’ve never laced em up.. he fought the smart fight and he’ll live to fight again.. and he’s still undefeated