Fast Results from Las Vegas: Shakur Collapses Caraballo with a Body Punch

Shakur Stevenson Collapses Caraballo with a Body Punch

Boxing returned to Las Vegas after 101-day absence on Tuesday, night, June 9, with a five-fight card at the MGM Grand promoted by Top Rank. The complete show was televised live on ESPN’s main platform and went off without a hitch although no fans were present.

The headline attraction was Shakur Stevenson who extended his undefeated record to 14-0 (8 KOs) with a sixth-round stoppage of Felix Caraballo (13-2-2) in a non-title fight. It was Stevenson’s debut at 130. In his previous start, the former Olympic silver medalist won the  vacant WBO world featherweight title with a dominant 12-round decision over Joet Gonzalez.

Stevenson closed the show with a left uppercut to the solar plexus. Caraballo, a Puerto Rican making his U.S. debut, slumped to his knees in obvious distress and no 10-count was necessary. The official time was 1:31.  Through the completed rounds, Stevenson out-landed Caraballo by better than a 4-to-1 margin.

Other Bouts

Two-time U.S. national amateur champion Jared Anderson was extended into the third round in his fourth pro fight while improving to 4-0 (4) at the expense of feisty but overmatched Floridian Johnnie Langston. (8-3). Anderson, 20, hails from Toledo, Ohio, a strong fight town. An impressive physical specimen, he puts his punches together nicely but needs to work on his defense. Comparison’s with Britain’s young gun Daniel Dubois are inevitable.

Former Olympian Guido Vianello scored his seventh knockout in as many tries with a first-round stoppage of beefy Donald Haynesworth (16-4-1). A chopping right hand on the ear of Haynesworth brought about the swift conclusion. Haynesworth, 37, made it to his feet but he didn’t look right and referee Jay Nady waived it off. Vianello, from Rome, Italy, has been training at Kevin Barry’s gym in Henderson, NV, during these months when he’s been stranded in the U.S. Heading in, Donald Haynesworth had defeated only two fighters with winning records.

In a 6-round middleweight contest, Quatavious Cash improved to 12-2 (7) with a unanimous technical decision over Calvin Metcalf (10-4-1). Referee Jay Nady stopped the fight late in the final round when a cut on the inside of Metcalf’s left eyebrow worsened. Because the cut was the result of an accidental head butt, the bout went to the scorecards. The tallies were 60-54, 60-55, and 68-55.

It was the sixth fight back for Cash after losing three years of his career to a shooting in his leg in his native Atlanta. Metcalf never took a backward step, but he was an arm puncher whose punches carried no steam.

In the lid-lifter, a featherweight contest slated for six rounds, Cuban import Robeisy Ramirez, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, needed only 54 seconds to score his third straight knockout after suffering a shocking loss in his pro debut. The victim was Yeuri Andujar (5-4), a fighter from the Dominican Republic.

The fight was barely a half-minute old when Ramirez wobbled Andujar with a straight left hand. He followed that up with a combination that put Andujar on the canvas. A left hook produced a second knockdown and referee Tony Weeks didn’t bother to count.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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