Former Shakur Stevenson’s opponent, Oscar Valdez, praised his aggressive effort to go for a knockout of Artem Harutyunyan final Saturday night time on the Prudential Heart in Newark, New Jersey.
The previous two-division world champion Valdez says he thought WBC light-weight champion Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) would rating a stoppage of Harutyunyan (13-2, 7 KOs) within the sixth spherical when he was touchdown nicely, however he couldn’t do it.
Stevenson was strolling ahead, throwing arm punches, not bending his knees, and failing to generate important energy. That made it simple for Harutyunyan to take the punches nicely and transfer out of vary.
When Shakur got here at him, Harutyunyan might battle him off with mixtures, which put the New Jersey native into the defensive mode. No matter momentum that Shakur had could be misplaced from the transient salvos that Harutyunyan was throwing.
Stevenson’s nook argued with him in between rounds within the second half, wanting him to place extra stress on, however couldn’t or wouldn’t do it. They may as nicely have been asking a Tiger to alter its stripes.
Shakur’s model was too ingrained to relentlessly assault how he would have wanted to KO the 33-year-old Harutyunyan, who was tailored for him.
Valdez’s Respect for Shakur’s Knockout Try
“You bought to respect Shakur for attempting to get the knockout. Who would have thought that the man that was working was Harutyunyan? They thought Shakur was going to run,” stated Oscar Valdez to Battle Hub TV, giving assist to his former conquer Shakur Stevenson from his win final Saturday night time towards Artem Harutyunyan.
Shakur tried, however the method that he used was by no means going to work towards an skilled Olympian like Harutyunyan, who has confronted actual knockout punchers within the amateurs and handled them with out getting KO’d.
It was simple for Harutyunyan to deal with Shakur’s restricted offensive expertise. That’s not Shakur’s robust level in his sport. He’s strictly a defensive fighter who nonetheless makes use of the beginner point-scoring model.
“I seen Shakur’s eyes the place there was a time the place he checked out Christina Poncher and myself and stated, ‘I’m going to knock him out’ within the sixth spherical. I truly thought he was going to get it, however there are specific fighters you’re not going obtained knock out,” stated Valdez.
When Shakur discovered some success in spherical six, Harutyunyan obtained on his bike and rapidly neutralized his offense. It was too simple. Shakur’s means to chop off the ring proved to be restricted, and that’s the bizarre half as a result of he’s such a great mover when attacked.
Sadly, his means to go ahead to assault is at a rudimentary stage, and that’s one of many the explanation why he’ll by no means be an entire fighter.
“Harutyunyan is a tricky fighter. Don’t underestimate the man. Shakur would possibly make him look simple, however he’s not a straightforward opponent,” stated Valdez. “Types make fights, and it simply wasn’t a great dancing associate for Shakur. However then once more, loads of occasions, Shakur doesn’t get that good dancing associate. ”
Shakur didn’t make it look simple towards Harutyunyan. That was a tricky battle the place Shakur appeared to lose 4 rounds. He didn’t dominate the best way some fighters would have at light-weight.
That is the fourth or fifth fighter that Shakur has fought throughout his profession that wasn’t a “good dancing associate,” it looks as if the one time somebody is an efficient one is once they’re restricted guys with no energy, pace, or boxing means.
“Possibly I used to be a great dancing associate as a result of I attacked him the entire time, and he counter-punched me the entire night time and gained a transparent battle. That’s why it made it considerably entertaining,” stated Valdez.
Shakur had the scale benefit over Valdez, and he was preventing him after he’d already began displaying indicators of slippage. Valdez was coming off a controversial twelve-round unanimous determination win over Robson Conceicao in his earlier battle on September 10, 2021, and lots of boxing followers felt that he misplaced that battle.
“That’s why you bought to offer loads of respect to Shakur; he tried his greatest to offer the followers and his individuals a knockout. He tried, however he didn’t get it. That’s boxing. He obtained the victory,” stated Valdez.
