Boxing Results: Shakur Stevenson stops Felix Caraballo & Robeisy Ramirez shines

By Boxing News - 06/09/2020 - Comments

By Mark Eisner: In an impressive performance, Shakur Stevenson (14-0, 8 KOs) stayed unbeaten with a sixth-round body shot knockout of Felix Caraballo (13-2-2, 9 KOs) on Tuesday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Stevenson, 22, landed a hard body shot in the sixth round that put Caraballo down on his knees. The fight was stopped at that point. Caraballo was too hurt, and he had no chance. Even if it had continued, Caraballo was just a punching bag for Shakur and it would have ended anyway.

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Stevenson returns to the ring tonight for a fight in the 130-pound division against Caraballo in a Top Rank promoted card at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, Nevada. No titles are on the line for the Stevenson-Caraballo match on ESPN.

This is a fight that will tell fans whether the 22-year-old Stevenson has enough pop in his punches to fight at super-featherweight. Although Stevenson’s promoter Bob Arum says he’s going to be returning to the featherweight division to face IBF champion Josh Warrington, he still is looking at fighting at 130 soon.

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Robeisy Ramirez vs. Yeuri Andujar

Starting out the action tonight, former Stevenson conqueror Robeisy Ramirez (3-1, 3 KOs) beat Yeuri Andujar (5-3, 3 KOs) by a first-round knockout. The 26-year-old two-time Olympic gold medalist from Cuba Ramirez twice knocked Andujar down with left hands to the head. The fight was stopped after the second knockdown by referee Tony Weeks. The battle of the stoppage was at 0:54 of round one.

In the first knockdown, Ramirez hit Andujar with a jarring left hand to the head, followed by an uppercut 30 seconds into the fight. Andujar fell over backward from the force of the second left hand.

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Moments later, Ramirez knocked Andujar with another left to the head. This time referee Tony Weeks stepped in and stopped the fight.

The only negative that I could see from Ramirez’s performance was his overreliance on his left hand. He rarely used his right hand at all in the fight, and it was like watching Guillermo Rigondeaux fight. Everything was thrown with Ramirez’s left hand.

It was an excellent performance for Ramirez, who lost the first pro fight of his career to Adan Gonzales by a four-round split decision in September last year. Ramirez has looked a lot better since then in destroying his three opponents since by knockout.

Punch stats for Ramirez vs. Andujar

Ramirez landed 13 of 23 shots for a connect percentage of 57. For his part, Andujar connected on 2 of 8 punches for a 25% connect rate.

When Ramirez first turned pro in 2019, it was thought that he was a can’t miss star. His loss shocked a lot of people, and he’s now being brought along more slowly by his promoters at Top Rank. If not for that loss, Robeisy would likely be further up on the card towards the main event.

We’ll need to see if Ramirez realizes his potential or if he’ll be yet another Olympic gold medalist that fails to make it big in the pro ranks.

Robeisy Ramirez and Shakur Stevenson will meet up at some point in the near future. For now, Ramirez will continue together wins to distance himself from his loss against Gonzales.

If Ramirez fights the way he did tonight, he’ll beat Shakur just like he did in the 2016 Olympics. Ramirez has more pop in his punches than Stevenson, and he can do a lot.

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Will Robeisy Ramirez realize his potential?

What we don’t know is if Ramirez’s diet will result in him eating his way up to the welterweight division, where he won’t have the size or power to succeed. Ramirez already looks puffy compared to when he was fighting in the Cuban amateur system.

With the right kind of dedication, Ramirez has superstardom written all over him. It’s all about him and whether he’s got the drive to control himself when he’s at the kitchen table.

“Shakur is a world champion, and that’s a fight I want down the line,” Ramirez said. “But I have to continue my winning ways and prove that I’m worthy of that opportunity as a pro.”

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Guido Vianello vs. Don Haynesworth

Unbeaten heavyweight prospect Guido Vianello made easy work of journeyman Don Haynesworth in stopping him in the first round of a scheduled six-round fight. The 26-year-old heavy-handed 2016 Olympian Vianello (7-0, 7 KOs) knocked the 37-year-old Haynesworth (16-4-1, 14 KOs) down with a right to the head.

Haynesworth wanted to continue but it was in bad shape. Referee Jay Nady halted the fight. The time of the stoppage as at 2:16 of round one. For Vianello, this was the fourth first-round knockout of his career and his second consecutive.

Vianello landed 13 of 28 punches for a connect percentage of 46, according to CompuBox. Haynesworth landed just 3 of 19 for a 16% connect rate.

Quatavious Cash vs. Calvin Melcalf

Middleweight Quatavious Cash beat Calvin Metcalf by a six-round technical decision.  The 25-year-old Metcalf (10-4-1, 3 KOs) was cut over his left eye in round two from a head-butt.

In the sixth, the referee Jay Nady stepped in and stopped the fight due to the cut. The time of the stoppage was at 0:35 of round six. Cash won his second consecutive fight after losing two in a row in 2018.

The judges scored it 60-55, 60-54 an 59-55. Boxing News 24 had Cash (12-2, 7 KOs) winning by a 60-54 score.

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