Stevenson Wins First Boxing Bout Since Corona Virus Pandemic Against Felix Caraballo.

Shakur Stevenson, the WBO featherweight champion, dominated his non-title bout against the Puerto Rican veteran, Felix Caraballo capping the sport’s return to the world’s fight capital.

After a three-month break in major boxing competition, Top Rank staged five fights for ESPN in a fan-free room in the MGM Grand casino complex’s conference centre.

Although every bout was a mismatch of varying degrees, the favorites still provided entertaining performances for the sport’s starved audience.

There were no fans allowed into the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino conference centre because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s a different atmosphere,” Stevenson said. “Losing the weight was different. Training in the gym was different. I couldn’t be around anybody.

“Even when fighting and there was no crowd was different. I would catch him with mean shots and there would be no ‘Ooohs’ or ‘Aaahs.'”

Stevenson also forced Caraballo to take a knee in the first round.
Stevenson said he injured his left hand in the fifth round but was still able to land solid blows.

Stevenson finished with precision midway through the sixth, opening up Caraballo’s defenses with a right hand to the side before putting a left hand directly into Caraballo’s solar plexus.

“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 said.

Stevenson, who is black, wore a T-shirt reading “Black Lives Matter” for his post-fight interview.

“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,” he 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.”

Stevenson, who turns 23 years old 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.