Shakur Stevenson (16-0, 8 KOs) had little trouble on Saturday night, easily outboxing Jeremiah Nakathila (21-2, 17 KOs) at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, aired live on ESPN.
After an uneventful opening round, Stevenson established his left crosses and long jab, keeping Nakathila at bay. In the fourth, Stevenson connected with a quick right hook that sent Nakathila down, though it was more of a flash knockdown.
Stevenson continued to outbox Nakathila throughout the fight, but the lacked much action, as Stevenson rolled to a unanimous decision win with scores of 120-107 from all three judges.
“To be honest, I didn’t really like my performance. I felt I could’ve performed a lot better, but it was an awkward fighter. You had an awkward fighter throwing hard punches, and he knows how to grab and get away. He was a real awkward fighter. That’s all,” said Stevenson after the fight.
In the co-feature, Jose Pedraza (29-3, 14 KOs) broke down Julian Rodriguez (21-1, 14 KOs) en route to an eighth-round stoppage after battering his face and causing Rodriguez’ left eye to swell up.
“My experience was too much for him. I was hungrier than him, and he was just another obstacle in my journey to become a three-division world champion. That is my goal,” said Pedraza.
