WEEKEND
Rising star Shakur Stevenson will defend his £130 belt against Brazil’s Robson Conceicao on Friday on ESPN. Also, on Saturday, Joe Joyce and Joseph Parker go head to head.
SHAKUR STEVENSON (18-0.9 KO) VS ROBSON CONCEICAO (17-1, 8 KO)
- When: Friday, September 23
- Time: 10pm ET / 7pm PT
- Where: Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey
- TV / Stream: ESPN, ESPN+
- Assignment: Light weight (130 pounds limit)
- Under threat: Stevenson’s WBC and WBO titles
- Pound-for-pound rating: Stevenson number 14
- The odds: Stevenson 14-1 favorite (multi-store average)
- Also on the card: Keyshawn Davis vs. Omar Tienda, lightweight
- Guess: Stevenson UD
- Story: Stevenson, the talented male player from New Jersey, is having sensational consecutive victories Jamel Herring (TKO 10 .) won his belt) last October and Oscar Valdez (UD merges two titles) in April to claim its place among the best in the business. The 2016 Olympic silver medalist also took home the £126 title in 2019. And he’s still just 25 years old. However, he must get past Conceicao first. The 33-year-old Brazilian, 2016 Olympic gold medalist, is a slick boxer with limited punching power. He talked well about himself when he won the world championship for the first time but defeat against the champion Valdez at that time September last year, took a clear decision. He recovered to easily overtake the previously unbeaten Xavier Martinez in January. He ranked 2nd by both WBC and WBO.
JOE JOYCE (14-0, 13 KOs) VS. JOSEPH PARKER (30-2, 21 KOs)
- When: Saturday, September 24
- Time: 2pm ET / 11am PT (7pm BST)
- Where: AO Arena, Manchester, England
- TV / Stream: ESPN+
- Assignment: Heavy (unlimited)
- Under threat: No main title
- Pound-for-pound rating: Not available
- The odds: Joyce favorite 2-1 (multi-store average)
- Also on the card: Amanda Serrano vs Sarah Mahfoud, featherweight (for Serrano’s WBC and WBO titles and Mahfoud’s IBF); Michael Magnesi vs Anthony Cacace, 12 rounds, junior lightweight; Ekow Essuman vs. Samuel Antwi, 12 rounds, welterweight division
- Guess: Joyce UD
- Story: Joyce and Parker are battling to be the mandatory challenger for Oleksandr Usyk’s WBO heavyweight title. Joyce, a 2016 Olympic silver medalist, recorded his breakthrough victory when he stop British opponent Daniel Dubois in 10 rounds in November 2020. The 37-year-old Londoner followed with a knockdown Carlos Takam next july and Christian Hammer in July to assert itself as the leading candidate. Parker represents his greatest test yet. The 30-year-old Kiwi held the WBO belt from December 2016 to March 2018, when he lost it decisively in a belt unification match against Anthony Joshua. He was trailed by Dillian Whyte in the next game but recovered to win the next six, including a head-to-head decision against Derek Chisora in May and December of last year. Also on this card, Amanda Serrano (42-2-1, 30 KOs) will defend her featherweight title against Sarah Mahfoud (11-0.3 KOs) of Denmark. Serrano is about to lose to lightweight champion Katie Taylor in April.
FIGHT THIS WEEK
SATURDAY
- Leigh Wood vs. Mauricio Lara, featherweight, Nottingham, England (DAZN).
- Floyd Mayweather vs. Mikuru Asakura, exhibition, young middle class, Saitama, Japan (pay-per-view).
