Unbeaten American Shakur Stevenson defended his World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight world title with a unanimous decision victory over Artem Harutyunyan at the Prudential Center in Newark on Saturday.
Stevenson improved to 22-0 with 10 full-round wins and was making the first defense of the title he won last November by beating Dominican Republic puncher Edwin de los Santos by narrow decision.
The result made Stevenson a three-division world champion, but a lackluster performance by both fighters did little on Saturday to silence critics clamoring for more drama in their final fight under contract with promoter Top Rank.
After a slow start that left the fans at the Prudential Center in Stevenson’s hometown unsettled, Stevenson began to wear down the Armenian-born German challenger with a series of body shots in the sixth round.
He maintained a careful pace on the 12th hole and the judges scored it 119-109, 118-110, 116-112 for the champion.
Harutyunyan was trying to win his first world title but ended up 12-2 with seven wins.
On the same card, Brazil’s Robson Conceição defeated WBC super featherweight world champion Oshaquie Foster in a controversial 12-round split decision victory to reclaim the title.
Foster’s mouth dropped open in shock when the score was read after a match in which he, and many in the crowd, felt he had put up a good fight against an opponent who appeared to be failing to land any damaging blows.
However, two judges scored the bout in favor of Conceição 116-112 and 115-113, while the third judge scored it in favor of Foster 116-112.
“I actually think I was the winner,” said Conceição, the 2016 Olympic gold medalist who improved to 19-2 with one draw and nine knockouts.
“I tried harder. He didn’t come to fight, he just ran and ran and ran. I kept attacking, and that’s why I won.”
Foster improved to 22-3 with 12 knockouts.
“I thought it was a shutout,” Foster said. “I didn’t get touched, but I did get a headbutt. I don’t know… I’d like a rematch.”
