Stevenson defeats Nakathila in landslide decision

• Covered the Broncos for two seasons with the Denver Post
• Graduate of the University of Houston
• A native of Jackson, Miss.

LAS VEGAS — Shakur Stevenson did everything well Saturday night except finish Jeremiah Nakathila for a knockout.

Instead, Stevenson (16-0, 8 KOs) dominated every second of the fight cruising to a shutout unanimous decision victory to win the WBO interim junior lightweight title.

All three judges scored the bout 120-107 in favor of Stevenson, who scored a knockdown in the fourth round from a short right hook.

But still there was a lingering feeling that it wasn’t quote the showcase that the 23-year-old rising star from Newark. wanted to put on in front of a supportive and active crowd at Virgins Hotel Theatre.

“To be honest, I didn’t really like my performance. I felt I could’ve performed a lot better,” Stevenson said. “You had an awkward fighter throwing hard punches, and he knows how to grab and get away. He was a real awkward fighter.” “I tried to {get him out of there} a little bit, but I started getting hit with some solid shots. I ain’t really like it, but next time I’m going to work on moving my head a little bit more and step it up a little more.”

Stevenson outlanded Nakathila 114-to-28 in total punches. He appeared to have him hurt several times in the early rounds but failed to finish him.

This was the first Top Rank card fully opened to fans since before the covid-19 pandemic. It wasn’t a sellout, but a rough estimate was the arena which holds 2,100 people was about 75-80% full.

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