By Robert Segal: WBC/WBO super featherweight champion Shakur Stevenson lost his two titles on the scales on Thursday after weighing in at 131.6 lbs for his fight against Robson Conceicao at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Stevenson (18-0, 9 KOs) chose not to strip down or use the two hours allotted to him to lose the extra weight.
This move upset Conceicao (17-1, 8 KOs) because he felt that Stevenson was unprofessional and set a poor example for his hometown of Newark. Conceicao made weight at 129.6 lbs.
Stevenson is already moving up to 135 in his next fight, so he probably didn’t see it as important for him to make weight for this fight against Conceicao. Given that, he would have been vacating his WBC & WBO 130-lb titles anyway.
You could immediately see the size difference between Stevenson and Conceicao when the two were on the scales. Stevenson looked bigger and less cut up.
When Shakur came in heavy, they brought the body shield to allow him to strip down, but he shook his head, letting them know that he wasn’t interested. That showed that Stevenson didn’t care that he was sacrificing his WBC & WBO belts.
When Stevenson moves up to 135, he could vacate the Devin Haney vs. George Kambosos Jr II rematch winner.
“He said yesterday I am fake. So he shows to the world who is fake is him,” said Conceicao to Fighthype about Shakur Stevenson missing weight at Thursday’s weigh-in. “This guy is not professional.
“He should give an example for your hometown [Newark], and that’s showing the opposite. He’s not an example; he’s not professional. So that’s a shame for all the boxing world.
“For sure, even if he’d made the weight, I would have taken his belts. I know I’m going to take his belts. I don’t care if he keeps the belt or if he doesn’t deserve it anymore. My functional is taking the belts.
“I’m going to take the belts home. I don’t speak so much like him. So I’m a professional athlete in the ring and not speak so much like him. So if he wants to speak, it’s scary about him. Tomorrow, I’m going to show the world the professional athlete that I am.
“Any kind of champion and pound-for-pound has to be an example for the world. So that’s not what he is. He’s not an example,” said Conceicao.
All weights:
Keyshawn Davis 136.2 vs. Omar Tienda 136.4
Andy Vences 129.8 vs. Henry Lebron 130
Bruce Carrington 126.6 vs. Jose Argel 126.8
Pablo Valdez 153.6 vs. Noe Alejandro Lopez 152.2