Former Shakur Stevenson’s opponent, Oscar Valdez, praised his aggressive effort to go for a knockout of Artem Harutyunyan final Saturday evening on the Prudential Middle 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 effectively, however he couldn’t do it.
Stevenson was strolling ahead, throwing arm punches, not bending his knees, and failing to generate vital energy. That made it straightforward for Harutyunyan to take the punches effectively and transfer out of vary.
When Shakur got here at him, Harutyunyan may battle him off with combos, which put the New Jersey native into the defensive mode. No matter momentum that Shakur had could be misplaced from the temporary salvos that Harutyunyan was throwing.
Stevenson’s nook argued with him in between rounds within the second half, wanting him to place extra strain on, however couldn’t or wouldn’t do it. They could as effectively 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 making an attempt to get the knockout. Who would have thought that the man that was operating was Harutyunyan? They thought Shakur was going to run,” stated Oscar Valdez to Combat Hub TV, giving help to his former conquer Shakur Stevenson from his win final Saturday evening in opposition to Artem Harutyunyan.
Shakur tried, however the strategy that he used was by no means going to work in opposition to an skilled Olympian like Harutyunyan, who has confronted actual knockout punchers within the amateurs and handled them with out getting KO’d.
It was straightforward for Harutyunyan to deal with Shakur’s restricted offensive expertise. That’s not Shakur’s sturdy 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 acquired knock out,” stated Valdez.
When Shakur discovered some success in spherical six, Harutyunyan acquired on his bike and rapidly neutralized his offense. It was too straightforward. Shakur’s capability to chop off the ring proved to be restricted, and that’s the bizarre half as a result of he’s such mover when attacked.
Sadly, his capability to go ahead to assault is at a rudimentary stage, and that’s one of many the reason why he’ll by no means be a whole fighter.
“Harutyunyan is a tricky fighter. Don’t underestimate the man. Shakur would possibly make him look straightforward, however he’s not a straightforward opponent,” stated Valdez. “Types make fights, and it simply wasn’t dancing accomplice for Shakur. However then once more, a number of instances, Shakur doesn’t get that good dancing accomplice. ”
Shakur didn’t make it look straightforward in opposition to Harutyunyan. That was a tricky battle the place Shakur appeared to lose 4 rounds. He didn’t dominate the way in which 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 accomplice,” it looks as if the one time somebody is an effective one is after they’re restricted guys with no energy, pace, or boxing capability.
“Possibly I used to be dancing accomplice as a result of I attacked him the entire time, and he counter-punched me the entire evening and received a transparent battle. That’s why it made it considerably entertaining,” stated Valdez.
Shakur had the scale benefit over Valdez, and he was combating him after he’d already began exhibiting indicators of slippage. Valdez was coming off a controversial twelve-round unanimous choice 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 present a number of respect to Shakur; he tried his finest to present the followers and his individuals a knockout. He tried, however he didn’t get it. That’s boxing. He acquired the victory,” stated Valdez.
