Notebook: Stevenson on Yoshino: 'I’m going to drown him'
Zepeda in new DAZN main event; new date for Rocha-Young; BetUS show; Cordova edges Acosta in slugfest; Quick hits; Show and tell
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Shakur Stevenson boxed circles around Robson Conceicao in a homecoming fight at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey in September, the last time he was in the ring.
But as outstanding as Stevenson looked in the one-sided decision win, he had been stripped of his unified junior lightweight belts the previous day for failing to make the 130-pound limit.
That prompted his official move up to lightweight, where he will face Japan’s Shuichiro Yoshino in a WBC final eliminator in the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN main event on Saturday (ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET), also at Prudential Center.
The winner will be the WBC’s mandatory challenger for the winner of the May 20 fight between undisputed champion Devin Haney and former unified champion Vasiliy Lomachenko.
The southpaw Stevenson (19-0, 9 KOs), 25, always confident, was a bit chippy toward Yoshino (16-0, 12 KOs), 31, of Japan, at the fight-week news conference on Thursday.
“I’m really excited for Saturday. But is he ready for Saturday? That’s the real question,” Stevenson said. “He walks around here with a smile, and I can’t wait to wipe that smile off his face.
“This dude been running around here saying that I don’t have any power. He’s been saying that he’s going to push me mentally. Let’s see if he’s ready to go to deep waters with me. I’m going to drown him.”
Stevenson declined to shake Yoshino’s hand when he extended it during a face off. Instead, he made a vow to what will happen in the fight.
“You’re going to see everything in the arsenal,” Stevenson said. “I’m going to go out there and box him. I’m going to beat him up. He’s going to leave that ring knowing that I’m the best fighter he’s ever been in the ring with.”
Yoshino is not a well-known outside of Japan, where he has had all of his bouts until Saturday. But he will face Stevenson coming off notable wins his previous two bouts. He stopped contender Masayoshi Nakatani, who was stopped by Lomachenko and gave Teofimo Lopez all he could handle in a decision loss, in the sixth round in November. Last April, Yoshino won an 11th-round technical decision over former junior lightweight titlist Masayuki Ito.
“I’m really pumped up for the fight,” Yoshino said through an interpreter. “I’m excited to fight for the WBC title (eliminator). This opportunity is really going to change my place in boxing.”
There are also two 10-round bouts on the main card featuring heavyweight Jared Anderson, the 2021 Fight Freaks Unite prospect of the year, and lightweight Keyshawn Davis, the 2020 U.S. Olympic silver medalist and 2022 FFU prospect of the year.
Anderson (13-0, 13 KOs), 23, of Toledo, Ohio, faces George Arias (18-0, 7 KOs), 31, of Bronx, New York, and Davis (7-0, 5 KOs), 24, of Norfolk, Virginia, fights former title challenger Anthony Yigit (26-2-1, 10 KOs), 31, a southpaw from Sweden.
BetUS Boxing Show
If you missed the BetUS Boxing Show live at 1 p.m. ET on Friday on YouTube, please check out the replay (and also subscribe to the YouTube channel). We previewed and picked four fights from Saturday’s three notable American cards: Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez vs. Cristian Gonzalez for the vacant WBO flyweight title and Murodjon Akhmadaliev vs. Marlon Tapales for Akhmadaliev’s WBA/IBF junior featherweight title on DAZN; Shakur Stevenson vs. Shuichiro Yoshino in a WBC lightweight eliminator on ESPN; and Sebastian Fundora defending the WBC interim junior middleweight title vs. Brian Mendoza on Showtime. We also took viewer questions and comments! Please check out the show here:
Zepeda in new main event
Plans for Golden Boy to put on a card April 29 on DAZN at the College Park Center on the campus of the University of Texas at Arlington will move forward despite the postponement of WBA “regular” welterweight titlist Eimantas Stanionis’ mandatory defense against fellow Vergil Ortiz Jr. for the second time this year.
The new main event will feature southpaw lightweight contender William Zepeda (27-0, 23 KOs), 26, of Mexico, against Jaime Arboleda (19-2, 14 KOs), 28, of Panama, in a 12-rounder, Golden Boy announced on Friday.
“In an absolutely stacked lightweight division, I don’t think there is anyone I would favor over Zepeda,” Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya said in announcing the bout. “But other fighters have been favored over Arboleda before and ended up tasting defeat. To get to the next level, Zepeda must continue to use the volume of punches and relentlessness that have made him a force to be reckoned with.”
Zepeda was initially penciled in for the Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia Showtime PPV on April 22, will instead go a week later in his first bout since a resounding and impressive lopsided decision over Joseph Diaz Jr. in October.
Arboleda has won three fights in a row since being stopped in the 11th round by Chris Colbert in an interim junior lightweight title bout in December 2020.
In the co-feature, featherweight Diego De La Hoya (24-1, 11 KOs), 28, of Mexico, who is Oscar’s first cousin, will face Victor Morales (17-0-1, 8 KOs), 25, of Vancouver, Washington, in a 10-rounder.
The three other bouts on the main card:
Mexican welterweight Raul Curiel (12-0, 10 KOs) will face Chicago’s Frederick Lawson (29-3, 22 KOs) in a 10-rounder.
Unified women’s flyweight champion Marlen Esparza (13-1, 1 KOs), of Houston, will defend against Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz (14-0, 6 KOs).
Super middleweight David Stevens (12-0, 9 KOs), of Reading, Pennsylvania, will face former world title challenger Marco Periban (26-6-1, 17 KOs), of Mexico, in an eight-rounder.
For those who purchased Stanionis-Ortiz tickets, Golden Boy announced two options: Keep the tickets and receive a partial refund of the difference with the new price for Zepeda-Arboleda or receive a full refund. Click here if you want details.
Rocha-Young rescheduled
Welterweight contender Alexis Rocha will face Anthony “Juice” Young in the 12-round main event on DAZN (8 p.m. ET) on May 27 at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California, Golden Boy announced on Thursday.
Rocha (21-1, 13 KOs), 25, of Santa Ana, California, and Young (24-2, 8 KOs), 35, of Atlantic City, New Jersey, were originally scheduled to fight on Jan. 28 but Young was forced to withdraw due to a nose injury. Rocha faced replacement George Ashie and stopped him in the seventh round.
Rocha will meet Young despite having been ordered to face WBO titleholder Terence Crawford in a mandatory bout.
However, Crawford and three-belt titlist Errol Spence Jr. are once again back at the bargaining table, according to multiple sources, and it would not be a surprise if the Crawford camp or WBO reached out to Golden Boy to see if Rocha would step aside for the time being.
“I’m back in the ring on May 27 and I’m looking forward to staying busy,” Rocha said. “I can’t wait to put on another great performance for all those in Southern California who make the trip to Fantasy Springs, but also for all of my fans who tune in on DAZN. Anthony Young is familiar to me because I was preparing to face him in my last fight before he was injured. I’ll be ready for this fight and my focus is to end this early with another big knockout.”
Said Young: “I’m just thankful for the opportunity to perform on this platform.”
Cordova outslugs Acosta
In a grueling battle, Venezuelan flyweight Angelino Cordova (18-0-1, 12 KOs), 27, notched his biggest win via unanimous decision over former junior flyweight titlist Angel “Tito” Acosta (23-4, 22 KOs), 32, of Puerto Rico, to take his regional title in the main event of Golden Boy’s “Fight Night” card on DAZN at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California.
Cordova won 96-93, 95-94 and 95-94, overcoming a bad cut over his left eye from an accidental head butt in the third round. Referee Edward Hernandez docked Cordova one point for rabbit punching in the fourth round.
“I thought it was a great fight,” Cordova said through an interpreter. “We were two warriors inside the ring. It wasn’t an easy fight. I had to use a lot of boxing IQ. I felt that I was able to connect my punches effectively and was able to move around easily. I am open to whatever opportunity comes next.”
Acosta felt he won.
“I am very disappointed with the results of this fight,” Acosta said through an interpreter. “What was most important was the work we were able to put in during training camp that was shown inside the ring. Cordova was a tough opponent, but kept hitting me behind the head. We’re going to take a brief break, and then get back to training. I felt like I won this fight. I want the rematch.”
Quick hits
Weights from Carson, California, for Saturday’s PBC card (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET): Sebastian Fundora 153.3 pounds, Brian Mendoza 153.5 (for Fundora’s WBC interim junior middleweight title); Brandun Lee 141.3, Pedro Campa 141.2; Luis Nunez 125.9, Christian Olivo 125.4; Gabriel Maestre 150.1, Devon Alexander 152.5; Adrian Corona 134.3, Jerry Perez 134.9; Frank Sanchez 247.4, Daniel Martz 275.
Weights from San Antonio for Saturday’s Matchroom Boxing (DAZN, 8 p.m. ET): Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez 111.4 pounds, Cristian Gonzalez 112 (for vacant WBO flyweight title); Murodjon Akhmadaliev 121.6, Marlon Tapales 121.8 (for Akhmadaliev’s WBA/IBF junior featherweight title); Raymond Ford 126, Jessie Magdaleno 126; Thomas Mattice 129, Ramiro Cesena 130; Israil Madrimov 158.8, Raphael Igbokwe 160; Marc Castro 133, Ricardo Lopez 133.6; Khalil Coe 175.8, James Quiter 174.8; Jesus Martinez 119.4, Jose Lopez 118.4.
Showtime will stream three bouts Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET) from Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, on the Showtime Sports YouTube channel and Showtime Boxing Facebook page before the network card at 10 p.m. ET. Former junior welterweight and welterweight titlist Devon Alexander (27-7-1, 14 KOs), 36, of St. Louis, who has lost three in a row, will end a 20-month layoff for a junior middleweight bout versus two-time Venezuelan Olympian Gabriel Maestre (4-0-1, 3 KOs), 36, who is coming off a draw with Taras Shelestyuk and a massively controversial decision over Mykal Fox. In eight-rounders: junior lightweight Adrian Corona (9-1-1, 2 KOs), 23, of Rialto, California, faces Jerry Perez (14-2, 11 KOs), 30, of Harbor City, California, and Cuban heavyweight contender Frank Sanchez (21-0, 14 KOs), 30, is in soft versus Daniel Martz (20-10-1, 17 KOs), 32, of Clarksburg, West Virginia, who has been stopped nine times inside four rounds.
Weights from Newark, N.J. for Saturday’s Top Rank card (ESPN, 10 p.m. ET): Shakur Stevenson 134.4 pounds, Shuichiro Yoshino 135 (WBC lightweight eliminator); Jared Anderson 247.4, George Arias 236.6; Keyshawn Davis 134.2, Anthony Yigit 134.8; Damian Knyba 258.2, Curtis Harper 267.6; Troy Isley 159.2, Roy Barringer 157.8; Bruce Carrington 126.4, Brando Chambers 125.6; Kelvin Davis 142.2, Nelson Morales 142.8; Antoine Cobb 143.8, Jaylan Phillips 142.2.
Weights from Tokyo for Saturday’s ESPN+ card (3 a.m. ET) Kenshiro Teraji 107.1, Anthony Olascuaga 106.9 (for Teraji's WBC/WBA junior flyweight title); Tenshin Nasukawa 122, Yuki Yonaha 121.75; Takuma Inoue 118, Liborio Solis 117.25 (vacant WBA bantamweight title); Jin Sasaki 146.5, Keita Obara 146.75; Kiko Martinez 125.25, Reiya Abe 125.75 (IBF featherweight eliminator).
Weights from Brooks, California, for the “ShoBox” tripleheader Friday (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET/PT): Shinard Bunch 140 pounds, Bryan Flores 139.6; Jahyae Brown 153.2, Guido Schramm 153.7; Raul Garcia 155.8, Robert Terry 155.5.
Top Rank announced that it has added junior lightweight contender Robson Conceicao to the Janikbek Alimkhanuly-Steven Butler undercard on May 13 at Stockton Arena in Stockton, California. He will face an opponent to be named in a 10-rounder on the ESPN+ portion of the preliminary bouts. Conceicao (17-2, 8 KOs), 34, a 2106 Brazilian Olympic gold medalist, suffered both of his losses in world title bouts by decision (to Oscar Valdez and Shakur Stevenson).
Super middleweight Erik Bazinyan (29-0, 21 KOs), 27, of Laval, Canada, will defend his regional belts in a 10-rounder against Jose de Jesus Macias (28-11-4, 14 KOs), 31, of Mexico, on June 1 at the Cabaret du Casino de Montreal in Montreal, Eye of the Tiger announced. The card, which will also feature junior lightweight Steve Claggett (34-7-2, 24 KOs), 33, of Calgary, Canada, against Julian Rodriguez (22-1, 14 KOs), 28, of Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, in a 10-round regional title bout in the co-feature, will stream on ESPN+ as part of EOTT’s deal with Top Rank.
Golden Boy announced that bantamweight prospect Manuel Flores (15-0, 11 KOs), 24, a southpaw from Coachella, California, will headline the company’s “Fight Night” card on June 8 (DAZN, 9 p.m. ET) at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California. He will face an opponent to be determined in a 10-rounder. Flores, who is trained by Joel Diaz, won an eight-round decision over Franklin Gonzalez last time out on Feb.23 in the “Fight Night” co-feature, also at Fantasy Springs.
Show and tell
When Marco Antonio Barrera moved up from junior featherweight to featherweight he went right into the biggest fight he could possibly have in the division when challenged undefeated knockout machine and fellow Hall of Famer Prince Naseem Hamed for his lineal featherweight title. This was a very big event and Barrera was a very big underdog when they met in an HBO PPV main event at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. I was the USA Today boxing writer at the time and was ringside to cover the fight and was impressed watching Barrera produced an absolute master class.
He was always a straight-ahead brawler but he dramatically changed his style to become a boxer-puncher with patience as he took apart the wild swinging Hamed to win 116-111, 115-112, 115-112, having been penalized one point in the 12th round for slamming Hamed’s head into a turnbuckle. As the legendary HBO announcer Larry Merchant said of Hamed as Barrera toyed with him at one point in the bout: “His moment of truth has turned into an hour of torture!” Barrera had some big wins in his day, including two in three fights with Erik Morales and Kennedy McKinney, but the win over the Prince, to me, is his defining moment. That memorable fight was on April 7, 2001 — 22 years ago on Friday. Here is a mint site poster in my collection.
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Photos: Stevenson-Yoshino and Anderson-Arias: Mikey Williams/Top Rank; Cordova: Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy; Fundora-Mendoza: Esther Lin/Showtime; Teraji-Olascuaga: Naoki Fukuda
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YOSHI YOSHI YOSHI i have been saying it for weeks now YOSHI is a real threat this is not a tune up this is going to be a fight. And So Sure is not too sure as you can hear from the fear in his voice, going to bang with Yoshi dont believe it one hard knock and he will rock and run around the canvas.