12/12 ESPN: Shakur Stevenson vs Toka Kahn Clary / Felix Verdejo vs Masayoshi Nakatani

[patscorpio]

Shakur Stevenson will fight Toka Kahn Clary in the main event of a Dec. 12 card on ESPN, Top Rank's Carl Moretti told ESPN on Tuesday.

Top Rank announced last week that Stevenson would headline the card against a yet-to-be-named opponent.

Stevenson, 23, vacated his WBO featherweight championship in July to move up to junior lightweight in hopes of bigger challenges.

In Kahn Clary, Stevenson will face a southpaw, something Moretti said that Top Rank wanted because it would like to match up Stevenson with fellow Top Rank southpaw Vasiliy Lomachenko or work out a deal with Golden Boy southpaw and IBF junior lightweight champion JoJo Diaz in 2021.

Top Rank CEO Bob Arum said last week he expects Stevenson to challenge the winner of a scheduled January bout between Jamel Herring and Carl Frampton for the WBO junior lightweight title.

Kahn Clary (28-2, 19 KOs) is on a three-fight winning streak since losing a competitive unanimous decision to Kid Galahad in a 2018 junior lightweight title eliminator. Kahn Clary notched a second-round knockout of journeyman Jonathan Perez last month.

"Shakur is a young talented fighter. It's a great matchup," said Kahn Clary, 28.

"I'm a little older with more experience. We've both got fast hands and good footwork, but I think power and experience will be on my side. A lot of the guys he's been fighting have been standing in front of him and pressuring him. They haven't been using their jab, so I look forward to doing that on the 12th."

Also on the Dec. 12 card, super middleweight prospect Edgar Berlanga, who has scored first-round knockouts in all 15 of his pro fights so far, will face a yet-to-be-named opponent, and lightweight Felix Verdejo will square off against Masayoshi Nakatani.

 

[Derek Lee]

 

[Iceson Beckford]

Real is back


Hopefully some better fights next year, Shakur is one of my favourite fighters

 

[Conscious Pilot]

Verdejo vs Nakatani is real interesting.

 

[CarltonJunior]

Gonna watch because I've seen every fight of Lil D () career to this point.

Shame that they hyped up a fight against Warrington and it'll never happen.

 

[Conscious Pilot]

 

[Conscious Pilot]

Berlanga on this Card too?


Top Rank undercards always deliver

 

[patscorpio]

Elvis Rodriguez-Larry Fryers Added To Stevenson-Kahn Clary Card
By Random Hits

Published On Wed Dec 9, 2020, 12:37 PM EST

Knockout artist Elvis “The Dominican Kid” Rodriguez aims to leave the building with one last knockout to end 2020. Rodriguez, who has four knockouts in three rounds or less since July, will face veteran “Lethal” Larry Fryers in a six-round welterweight contest Saturday at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Rodriguez-Fryers will be part of the ESPN+ undercard stream (7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT) preceding the ESPN-televised tripleheader (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT) headlined by the junior lightweight battle between Shakur Stevenson and Toka Kahn Clary.

"I am grateful for the opportunities that Top Rank has given me and the effort of my team to keep me fit and ready,” Rodriguez said. "I would like to be recognized as Prospect of the Year. It would be a great recognition of my talent, effort, sacrifice and discipline. I believe that I would be the first Dominican boxer named Prospect of the Year. Representing the Dominican flag is a source of pride for me. I feel committed to bringing a world title to my country."

Said Top Rank Chairman Bob Arum, “I have not seen a more talented prospect this year than Elvis Rodriguez, and with the incomparable Freddie Roach in his corner, he is in wonderful hands.”

Rodriguez (10-0-1, 10 KOs) is 5-0 in 2020, including a slew of highlight-reel knockouts since making his Bubble debut July 2 with a one-punch knockout over Danny Murray. He last fought Oct. 9 and knocked out the usually durable veteran Cameron Krael with a right hook in the third round. Fryers (11-3, 4 KOs), a New York-based Irishman, returns to The Bubble following a unanimous decision loss in June to unbeaten prospect John Bauza.

 

[Conscious Pilot]

That’s a damn good card

 

[patscorpio]

Photos: Stevenson-Kahn Clary, Verdejo-Nakatani, Berlanga-Sierra - Face-Offs
By Boxing Photos

Published On Thu Dec 10, 2020, 06:09 PM EST

LAS VEGAS - Shakur Stevenson, former featherweight world champion, is ready to add a second world title to his trophy case. First, he must get past Toka Kahn Clary in Saturday's 10-round junior lightweight main event from the MGM Grand Las Vegas Bubble.

Stevenson-Clary headlines an ESPN-televised tripleheader beginning at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

The 10-round lightweight co-feature will see Puerto Rican star Felix "El Diamante" Verdejo take on Japanese veteran Masayoshi Nakatani.

Super middleweight sensation Edgar Berlanga — 15-0 with 15 first-round knockouts — will seek to extend his streak against veteran Ulises Sierra in an eight-rounder. Sierra, from San Diego, has never been stopped as a pro.

 

[patscorpio]

 

[FreedMind]

Bob wants to make Verdejo vs Teofimo so bad. I hope Nakatani can get the W tomorrow.

 

[Conscious Pilot]

Bob wants to make Verdejo vs Teofimo so bad. I hope Nakatani can get the W tomorrow.

Verdejo vs Nakatani should be fight of the weekend. Winner should get an eventual title shot at 135 in 2021.

 

[aceboon]

 

[Electric Ladyland]

pretty good card

some fun fights tonight