OMAHA, Neb. ?A prospect began to look like a contender, all within one dazzling round.
Shakur Stevenson needed only three minutes Saturday night to graduate, from apprentice to dangerous, in a first round stoppage as swift as it was sensational. Viorel Simion, a veteran super-featherweight from Romania, never had a chance in the last bout bout before the Terence Crawford-Jose Benavidez Jr. showdown at Omaha?s CHI Health Center, . Stevenson (9-0, 5 KOs), an Olympic silver medalist from Newark, dropped Simion (21-3, 9 KOs) with a left about 70 seconds after opening bell. Moments later, he dropped him again, again with a left that travels like a dart and lands with a poisonous impact. As the round ended, Stevenson finished it, this time landing a right that finished Simion for a TKO stoppage.
Alvarado delivers crushing KO blow
It was a huge punch and maybe a statement. Former junior-welterweight champion Mike Alvarado (40-4, 28 KOs) delivered it with a huge right hook that put Robbie Cannon (16-14-3, 7 KOs) of Fetus, Mo., flat on his back and finished at 2:15 of the second round. Cannon, who was knocked down earlier in the same round, had to be helped up onto a stool where concerned ring-side physicians watched him until he was fully able to walk under his own power.
Carlos Adames stays unbeaten with quick stoppage Carlos Adames (15-0, 12 KO), a super-welterweight from The Dominican Republic, knocked down Josh Conley (14-3-1, 9 KOs) San Bernardino, Calif., once. Then twice. Adames could have knocked Conley down as often as he wanted. But twice was enough to know that even a third would have been too much. It was over, Adames a TKO winner at 2:15 of the second round.
Omaha light-heavyweight Steve Nelson stays unbeaten with powerful TKO
Omaha light-heavyweight Steve Nelson (12-0, 10 KOs) came into the ring wearing a mask. But there is no disguise power for his power. No way to elude it either. Oscar Rojas (17-11-1, 6 KOs) of Mexico couldn?t (17-11-1, 6 KOs). Nelson, who had Terence Crawford trainer Brian McIntyre in his corner, dropped with thunderclap of left in the fourth. Somehow, Rojas got back up and onto his feet. But he was finished. It was over moments later, a TKO at 2:50 of the the fourth round.
Mikaela Mayer wins unanimous decision Former Olympian Mikaela Mayer (8-0 4 KOs) of Los Angeles scored a powerful knockdown in the seventh round. A dazed Vanessa Bradford (4-1-2) of Canadian from Edmonton, looked up and got up, but a loss had to look like an inevitability. A round later, it was. Mayer won a unanimous decision.
Lightweight Muwendo wins No. 20 with a unanimous decision
Ismail Muwendo (20-1, 12 KOs), a Minneapolis lightweight training in Omaha, scored one for a handful of local fans, scoring a unanimous decision over Andre Wilson (15-12-1, 12 KOs) of St. Jospeh, Mo., with superior reach and a measure of toughness. Muwendo was staggered by straight left hand in the third, then recovered for a 59-55 decision on all three cards.
Benavidez Sr.-trained Jose Valenzuela wins one-sided decision
Seattle super-featherweight Jose Valenzuela (2-0) helped warm up the ring for Jose Benavidez Jr. with a head-rocking, one-sided decision over a shorter Hugo Rodriguez (1-1, 1 KO) of Mexico. Benavidez? father and trainer, Jose Sr., worked Valenzuela?s corner, the second bout on an undercard streamed by ESPN+.
Calm Before The Storm: Crawford-Benavidez card opens with Keeshawn Williams? victory
Call it the calm before the storm.
Washington welterweight Keeshawn Williams (4-0-1, 1 KOs) opened the show with a solid, if not spectacular, unanimous decision over Ramel Snegur (2-3-1, 1 KO) of Portland, Ore., Saturday on a card that is forecast to end in a building storm between Terence Crawford and Jose Benavidez Jr.
Williams employed some well-executed body-head shots that staggered Snegur, especially in the third and fourth rounds of a 40-36, 39-37, 40-36 decision
