Shakur Stevenson vs Jeremia Nakathila – Results & Post-Fight Report

Shakur Stevenson did pretty much as he pleased as he claimed the interim WBO Super Featherweight title at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, with a landslide points win against Namibia’s Jeremia Nakathila.

Stevenson is chasing the big names in the 130 pound division and his latest win pushed him closer to potential meetings with the likes of WBC champion, Oscar Valdez, and WBO boss, Jamel Herring, who could well meet each other down the line.

23-year-old Stevenson has already reigned as WBO Featherweight champion, and this was his third fight at the weight class above, his last was a December 2020 win over Toka Kahn Clary, where Stevenson won all ten rounds.

Nakathila was fighting outside of his homeland for just the second time, and he came into this contest on the back of ten straight wins.

He was no match though for Stevenson, who dominated from first bell to last, and the underdog spent almost the entire fight looking to land a single big punch that never came. He was also hurt at several points in the contest, and the fourth saw him on the deck, dropped by a short right hook, but he comfortably survived the count. Olympic Silver Medallist Stevenson just couldn’t close the show though, and was forced to go the distance, where the result was in no doubt.

Three identical cards of 120-107 ensured Stevenson recorded his 16th professional win. It now looks like his promoters, Top Rank, are looking to match him with Herring rather than Valdez, as an Autumn or Winter meeting with ‘Semper-Fi’ has been drawn up.

“If I had the choice, I’d take Oscar Valdez, but if I have to beat up Jamel (Herring) to get to it, I’ll do that too,” Stevenson said post-fight.

“Jamel can’t beat me. He knows what it is.”

“I was being real careful because he (Nakathila) has power. But he was real scared. He would throw one punch, and go in a shell. I got the best defence in boxing. But I’ll be better in my next fights.”

Jose Pedraza keeps on going, and the Puerto Rican former two weight world champion inflicted the first defeat of Julian Rodriguez’s professional career, forcing the New Jersey native to retire after eight rounds of their Super Lightweight encounter. Pedraza had looked flat in recent appearances, but he was back to his best here, picking apart his younger foe, and eventually inflicting enough damage to Rodriguez’s left eye to leave it swollen shut, and his corner pulled him out of the firing line, with his right eye also showing plenty of damage.

The other ten stone contest saw John Bauza pick up win number 15, as the Puerto Rican based in New Jersey dropped Christon Edwards three times on the way to a second round stoppage victory.

Tyler McCreary’s career lies in tatters, as his return from defeat against Carl Frampton last time out in November 2019 went disastrously, with Manuel Rey Rojas taking a near shutout eight round points win in their meeting at Super Featherweight. Two scores of 80-72, and a third at 79-73, gave the Mexican the win.

Xander Zayas impressed, and the Welterweight notched a third round stoppage win over Larry Fryers, while Troy Isley moved to 2-0 with a fourth and last round stoppage of LaQuan Evans.

The rest of the card’s bouts went the distance. At Lightweight, Brian Lua took a win over six against Frevian Gonzalez Robles, while at Welterweight, Kasir Goldston moved to 3-0 with a four round points win over Maurice Anthony. Also at Welterweight, Jahi Tucker won all four frames against Ysrael Barboza.