It looked different, as it took place in a studio without spectators because of the coronavirus pandemic. It sounded different. No cheering, no booing, only the sound of punches landing and the voices of the referee, cornermen and broadcasters, who called the card off site.
Still, once the opening bell rang, it looked very familiar. Indeed, boxing was once again on center stage Tuesday in a tightly controlled MGM Grand ballroom in Las Vegas.
And the star of the first post-lockdown show shined as brightly as ever, as featherweight titleholder Shakur Stevenson gave a dazzling demonstration of the sweet science before putting Felix Caraballo away with a single left hook to the body in Round 6.
“It was a different atmosphere,” Stevenson said after the fight. “The training was different. I couldn’t be around nobody. Even when I was fighting … there was no crowd. I was catching him with mean shots and you don’t hear oohs or aahs. So it was a little different.”
The result was the same for the 2016 Olympic silver medalist, who has established himself as a fast-rising star in only 14 professional fights.
Stevenson won a vacant 126-pound title when he easily outpointed Joet Gonzalez this past October. He was supposed to defend his belt against Miguel Marriaga on March 14 but those plans gave way to the pandemic only two days before the fight.
Thus, Stevenson was first in line when it came time to resume the schedule. And he certainly made the most of it in a non-title fight at 130 pounds.
Caraballo (13-2-2, 9 KOs) was gritty, if little else. He came out aggressively at the opening bell to demonstrate that he meant business but Stevenson quickly made it look as if Caraballo was in the wrong business.
Stevenson (14-0, 8 KOs) landed uber-quick, accurate combinations with unusual consistency as Caraballo tried to work his way inside almost the entire fight. The underdog took tremendous punishment to the head even though he kept his guard up, which is a testament to Stevenson’s accuracy.
Caraballo went down from a right to the body in the opening round but he seemed to be off balance. In the second, he was stunned – perhaps even hurt – a few times as the punches already were taking a toll.
In the third, ESPN analyst Tim Bradley, working from home, said, “This is target practice.” And that’s what it was. Caraballo, grossly overmatched, seemed helpless.
And not even the fact Stevenson hurt his left hand at some point – he grimaced after connecting with it in Round 5 – could hold him back.
About midway through the final round, Stevenson landed a right to Caraballo’s body. The Puerto Rican responded by missing with a left hook and then, BAM! A left to the solar plexus knocked Caraballo to his forearms and knees in great pain. One could actually hear him moaning for lack of other sounds.
And he couldn’t go on. The official time of the stoppage was 1:31.
“I came here to get him out of there,” Stevenson said. “… I hit him with everything I could. I wobbled him a couple of times. He took a lot of punishment. I started realizing that the head shots weren’t going to get him out of there so I started going to the body more.
“I was looking this way,” he added, leaning in one direction and then other, “I was looking this way, and he opened up wide … and I landed the shot.”
Stevenson doesn’t know what his immediate future holds. He remains a 126-pound titleholder but he also was testing the waters at 130 on Tuesday. He wanted to see how he felt at that weight.
That said, he is hungry to face opponents far better than Caraballo at any weight as he strives to become the best fighter in the world. The comparisons with Floyd Mayweather, the master of hitting and not getting hit, never end.
“We’re two different fighters,” he said. “I feel we have two different styles. I have my own style. I stole a couple of things from his game. I’ve stolen stuff from Pernell Whitaker, Terence Crawford, Andre Ward. I’ve stolen stuff from a lot of guys, not just Floyd.
“I appreciate the comparisons because it’s a huge compliment but I’m still my own fighter. I’m the first Shakur Stevenson.”
In preliminaries, Jared Anderson, a 20-year-old heavyweight prospect from Toledo, Ohio, stopped former cruiserweight Johnny Langston at 1:55 of Round 3 of a scheduled six-round bout.
Anderson (4-0, 4 KOs) was the much bigger, stronger man and took advantage of that, pounding his game opponent to both the head and body from the opening bell. Anderson fought very aggressively – sometimes recklessly, which allowed Langston to land some shots – but he wore down Langston (8-4, 3 KOs) quickly.
Refree Jay Nady stopped the fight as Langston was taking a beating not firing back.
“He took some good shots,” said Anderson, who had never been past the first round. “He was a tough opponent. I did what I wanted to. I did some stuff I didn’t want to do. I got caught with a good shot. It didn’t hurt me, but I definitely got caught with it. I know a different opponent could hurt me with a shot like that. We’ll go back to the drawing board and see what I did wrong.”
“This wasn’t what I expected, but it was a great experience. I’m happy I got the opportunity to showcase my talents on ESPN at such a young age.”
Italian Olympian Guido Vianello needed only 2:16 to stop Don Haynesworth in a scheduled six-round heavyweight bout, ending matters with a single overhand right.
Haynesworth (16-3-1, 14 KOs) was in the process of landing a jab to the body when Vianello (7-0, 7 KOs) landed a downward right that put the underdog on his back. Referee Jay Nady stopped the fight after a standing Haynesworth said, “I don’t know what happened.”
Vianello, who fought in the 2016 Olympics, moved from Rome to Las Vegas to focus on his development. The 6-foot-6, 239¼-pounder trains with Kevin Barry, the fighter who beat Evander Holyfield by disqualification in the 1984 Olympics and longtime pro trainer.
Vianello, 26, has sparred with Tyson Fury, which has helped in his maturation.
“Tyson is the best,” he said. “His moving, his defense, his fast jab. I love his jab. I remember every day his technique. I hope to see him [again] soon.”
And Quatavious Cash defeated Calvin Metcalf by a unanimous decision in a scheduled six-round middleweight bout that was stopped after five because of a deep cut above Metcalf’s left eye.
The gash was caused by an accidental clash of heads in the second round, which sent the fight to the cards after it was stopped. The scores were 60-54, 60-55 and 59-55, all for Cash (12-2, 7 KOs).
Metcalf (10-4-1, 3 KOs) pushed the action most of the way even though blood dripped down his face but Cash threw more punches and landed the harder, more-accurate shots to sway the judges.
Cash has won back-to-back fights after losing two in a row.
