ATLANTA — Shakur Stevenson has heard all the criticism loud and clear: Not entertaining enough; not aggressive enough; not mean enough.
So, Stevenson peeked his head through the ropes at perhaps his loudest skeptic, former champion Timothy Bradley, with the knowledge the narrative can now be laid to rest for good.
In a star-making performance, Stevenson finally displayed the kind of violence boxing fans were dying to see from the ultra-talented boxer.
He came through with a two-fisted beating of Jamel Herring to capture the WBO 130-pound championship via 10th-round TKO on Saturday at State Farm Arena in the ESPN main event — an utterly one-sided victory.
“I wanted a fun fight: show my skills, my boxing, my power. I wanted to show everything tonight,” said Stevenson, ESPN’s No. 1 boxer at 130 pounds. “I want to be a superstar in the sport; I’m here to last.”
The Newark, New Jersey, native won all nine rounds on two cards, with one judge somehow finding a single round for Herring. ESPN scored it a shutout, 90-81.
Stevenson (17-0, 9 KOs) opened up a nasty cut over Herring’s right eye in Round 9, and the gash immediately bled profusely. The challenger, a former champion at 126 pounds, continued to march forward and turned up the pressure in Round 10. The crisp, clean shots rarely missed their mark. Finally, the referee saw enough and waved the bout off at 1:30. Herring (23-3, 11 KOs) protested the referee’s decision, but he wasn’t punching back.
“I smelled blood,” said Stevenson, who earned a career-high $1.7 million, sources told ESPN. “I saw he was bleeding and was like, ‘OK, I have to attack the cut.’ I was trying to touch the cut to make the doctor try and stop it.”
The outcome was never in doubt from the opening bell: Stevenson outlanded Herring…
Source : espn
