Shakur Stevenson added the WBC super-featherweight title to his WBO belt with a dominant unanimous decision win over Oscar Valdez in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
New unified champion Stevenson, who oozed confidence pre-fight, utilised his superior skillset to outclass and dethrone the previously-undefeated WBC 130lbs title holder Valdez at The MGM Grand. Scorecards were 117-110 and 118-109 twice.
Valdez struggled to find any success in the opening exchanges, with Stevenson forcing the Mexican off balance twice in a largely comfortable first round for the 24-year-old.
With Valdez trying to work his way inside, Stevenson caught his fellow 130lbs champion with a couple of notable left hands to head and body in the third round.
Despite finding moderate success with his right hand in the fifth, Valdez found his momentum killed one round later as Stevenson scored a knockdown in the sixth session.
Valdez toughed out the remainder of the round, before making an aggressive start to the seventh. Stevenson, however, continued to prove too elusive, picking apart his Mexican foe with a variety of punches midway through the ninth round.
Stevenson continued to outbox Valdez during the final two rounds, with the pro-Valdez crowd left agitated by the Newark native’s showboating as the clock ran down. Valdez, disheartened, struggled to land on his American foe as their bout came to an end.