The MGM Grand Arena was packed on Saturday night for the unification title fight between junior lightweight champions Oscar Valdez and Shakur Stevenson. Valdez had with him the WBC title, while Stevenson had the WBO title.
Stevenson felt that a win would catapult him to the pound-for-pound list, and he fought like a man on a mission. He played the distance game very well, landing his shots at will.
Valdez, for the most part, found himself overextending his shots and playing catch-up. He did find some success in close range, but it wasn’t anything that Stevenson didn’t have an answer for.