Shakur Stevenson ended the most unusual week of his boxing life with his usual dominance in another victory.
The World Boxing Organization featherweight champion stopped Felix Caraballo with a body-punch knockdown in the sixth round on Tuesday night, in the first major boxing event held in North America since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stevenson, 14-0 with eight knockouts, trained and lived in isolation in the days leading up to the fight. He still put on an impressive show in his non-title bout against the Puerto Rican veteran, capping the sport’s return to the world’s fight capital in a fan-free room at the MGM Grand Casino complex’s conference center.
Photo: AFP
“It’s a different atmosphere,” Stevenson said. “Losing the weight was different. Training in general was different. Fighting without a crowd, I was catching him with mean shots and you don’t hear no no ‘Ooohs’ or ‘Aaahs.’”
After a three-month break in major boxing competition, Top Rank led the sport back into action with five fights on ESPN. Although pretty much every bout was a mismatch, the favorites still provided entertaining performances for the sport’s starved audience.
Stevenson knocked Caraballo to one knee in the first round, and the US Olympic silver medalist’s brutally accurate power continued to hurt Caraballo.
Stevenson injured his left hand in the fifth round, but he finished the fight with precision midway through the sixth, opening up Caraballo’s defenses with a right hand to the side before putting a left directly into Caraballo’s solar plexus, crumpling the challenger.
“My mindset was focused on getting him out of there,” Stevenson said. “I hit him with everything I could early. I wobbled him a bunch of times. He took a lot of punishment, and I started realizing that head shots weren’t going to get him out of here. So I started going to the body more.”
Stevenson, who turns 23 later this month, and heavyweight Jared Anderson both wore T-shirts reading “Black Lives Matter” in the ring.
Stevenson also walked out to Changes, the Grammy-nominated anthem of social change written by Tupac Shakur, after whom the boxer is named.
“My people right now, they’re protesting and there’s a lot going on in our community, a lot of people trying to stand up for what’s right,” Stevenson said. “I couldn’t really go out there and protest with them, because I had a fight coming up and I didn’t want to risk catching corona. Now that the fight is over, I’ll go out there and protest. Mask up, gloved up, I’ll go out there and help my people out.”
Mikaela Mayer was scheduled for a showcase in the co-main event, but the US Olympian was on Sunday pulled from her fight with Helen Joseph when she tested positive for COVID-19. Mayer is asymptomatic, but remains in quarantine.
Her positive test forced Stevenson to fight without coach Kay Koroma, who works with both fighters due to their shared Olympic background.
Koroma tested negative for COVID-19, but he stayed away in accordance with the health protocols set up for the return of combat sports in Nevada.
Koroma also was scheduled to work in the corner of the 20-year-old Anderson, who easily improved to 4-0 with a stoppage of Johnny Langston in the penultimate bout.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tomorrow for the final berth at next year's World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome yesterday. The home team's loss means that Nicaragua finishes No. 1 in the qualifier round held in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to the games. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier yesterday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan, competing under the name Chinese Taipei, finished third, while South Africa placed at the bottom
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