Shakur Stevenson Stops Josh Padley In Nine Rounds

WBC World Lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson of Newark, New Jersey (23-0, 11 KOs) stopped late replacement opponent Josh Padley of Yorkshire (15-1, 4 KOs) with a barrage of body shots, forcing Padley’s corner to toss in the towel and stop the fight at the end of the ninth round.

As ring announcer Thomas Treiber declared Stevenson the winner, fans at the ANB Arena in Riyadh booed. Stevenson gave them a thumbs down, then blew them kisses.

Stevenson fought the first six rounds behind sharp, snapping jabs. Padley took them well, but he never faced as skilled an opponent as Stevenson. The speed and precision of Stevenson, combined with his footwork, prevented Padley from fighting at his optimal distance.

Shakur Stevenson Presses for the Stoppage

Stevenson could have continued like this all night, but he’s heard the criticism about his style being boring to watch. But Stevenson was in his first fight after surgery on his left hand. The scar is still visible. In the sixth round, Stevenson winced after landing a punch to Padley’s head. In the seventh round, it became clear Stevenson’s left was feeling some pain. Stevenson shook it several times after landing punches on Padley.

Nevertheless, with an opponent like Padley in front of him and the pressure on to get a knockout, Stevenson began to press the action in the ninth round, focusing on the body. It was the winning recipe. Stevenson dropped Padley twice on body shots. Though Padley beat the count both times, his corner threw in the towel and waved off the fight,

A full-time electrician, Padley got the call four days before the fight. He acquitted himself well against one of the world’s most skillful fighters. It’s a net positive for Padley and something he can use to build his career. His nerve to take the fight won him plenty of fans worldwide.  

Carlos Adames and Hamzah Sheeraz Fight To Draw

Carlos Adames of the Dominican Republic (24-1, 18 KOs) had the championship experience and skills to hand Hamzah Sheeraz of England (21-0, 17 KOs) his first loss. Adames makes a successful defense of his WBC World Middleweight title.

Scores were all over the place 115-114 for Sheeraz, 118-110 for Adames, and 114-114.

Although Adames only fought one each of the last three years and didn’t take on the top-ranked opponents in his division, he proved far too hard for Sheeraz to figure out. Sheeraz hasn’t faced the kind of challengers that would have taught him what to do with Adames, or given him the confidence to successfully attack him.

Adames outworked Sheeraz. According to CompuBox, Adames had a 90 to 48 advantage in power punches landed. But this effort wasn’t enough to get one more scorecard in his favor, although the one scored for him was the widest card of the three. Half of Adames’ landed punches were body shots.

Even when Sheeraz was able to land a hard shot on Adames, he didn’t follow up. With an opponent as tough and tested as Adames, single shots weren’t going to get the job done.

Following the fight, Sheeraz’s team reported that he believed he had broken his hand, which may account for some of his reluctance to offer more firepower.

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