By Ian S Palmer
WBO and WBC Jr. Lightweight Champion Shakur Stevenson of Newark, New Jersey will be taking on Robson Conceicao of Brazil this Friday, September 23rd in Stevenson’s hometown. The 12-round bout can be seen live in America on ESPN and ESPN+ while fans in Canada can catch the action on TSN 2 and those in the UK can view it on Sky Sports Arena. Stevenson won the WBO last October by stopping Jamel Herring in the 10th round and added the WBC version when he beat Oscar Valdez by unanimous decision in April. Robson Conceicao last fought in January when he beat Xavier Martinez by a 10-round unanimous decision.
The 25-year-old Stevenson is a southpaw who enters the contest a perfect mark of 18-0 with 9 Ko’s. He enjoyed an excellent amateur career as he won a USA Junior National Championship and World Junior Championship in 2013. The next year he captured the USA Youth National, Youth Olympic Games and World Youth Championships. He won the USA Youth National Title in 2015 as well as the Olympic trials and qualifiers.
He then fought at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and won the silver medal as a bantamweight. Since turning pro in 2017 he’s boxed 115 rounds and has also captured the IBF Inter-Continental, WBC Continental Americas, and WBO NABO Featherweight Titles as well as the WBO Featherweight Crown. Stevenson stands 5-feet-7-inches tall and has a 68-inch reach.
He’s certainly not not known as a KO artist by any means though as he possesses average power with a current knockout ratio of 50 per cent. He displays fine boxing skills and speed and has plenty of long-term championship potential in multiple weight classes. Along with beating Valdez and Herring he also has wins over Joet Gonzalez, Alberto Guevara, Jeremia Nakathila, Christopher Diaz, Jesse Cris Rosales and Juan Tapia.
The 33-year-old Conceicao is best known for his controversial unanimous-decision defeat to Oscar Valdez and for winning a gold medal at the 2018 Olympics in his homeland of Brazil as a lightweight. He also competed at the 2012 Olympics in London, England where he was beaten by Josh Taylor in his first contest and fought at the 2008 games in Beijing, China where he was also beaten in his first fight.
Conceicao also competed in several World Amateur Championships and dropped a close decision to Vasyl Lomachenko in 2011. He’s built a record of 17-1 as a pro since with 8 Kos for a 44.4 per cent knockout ratio. He stands just over 5-feet-10 inches tall with a 70-inch reach and has boxed 103 rounds since making his pro debut in 2016. This gives Conceicao a three-inch height advantage on Stevenson as well as two inches in reach.
Conceicao’s only fights against legitimate contenders as a pro were against Valdez and Martinez he arguably should have earned the decision against Valdez despite being docked a point in the ninth round for hitting the champion behind the head. The Brazilian’s biggest wins so far have been against the likes of Martinez, Luis Coria, Carlos Ruiz, Edgar Cantu, Joey Laviolette and Eduardo Pereira Dos Reis. He has a decent chin but was dropped in the second round by Coria in 2020 and was deducted two points for low blows.
Prediction…
Stevenson’s game plan is generally to not get hit and use his premier boxing skills and footwork to outbox his opponents but he did show a bit more aggression against Oscar Valdez and Jamel Herring. He’s very good defensively but unless you’re a purist you may find his fights somewhat on the dull side since he’s rarely pushed to the limit. Conceicao is a more aggressive boxer who will hopefully take the fight to the champion and test his chin. I’m expecting the younger Stevenson to utilize his superior skills though to remain unbeaten.
