Shakur Stevenson took Saturday night’s main event on short notice. By the way he fought against Toka Kahn Clary in a 10-round junior lightweight fight, none of that mattered much.
Stevenson (15-0, 8 KOs) was dominant at 130 pounds, beating Kahn Clary by unanimous decision to finish out his 2020. All three judges scored it 100-90.
Stevenson, 23, bookended his year at MGM Grand Convention Center in Las Vegas, winning on Top Rank’s first post-shutdown card in June and its last in December.
He landed 151 punches, including 64 body shots. Stevenson landed more body shots than Kahn Clary (28-3, 1 NC, 19 KOs) landed total punches (48) throughout the fight. Kahn Clary absorbed combinations from Stevenson in almost every round, while landing only 9 percent of his punches.
The only thing Stevenson did not do Saturday was knock Kahn Clary out, but he stunned him multiple times, including once in the last round.
“You got an experienced fighter who knows how to survive,” Stevenson said on ESPN after the fight. “At the end of the day, there are fighters who know how to survive and there’s experienced fighters who know how to survive.
“And he got a lot of experience being for around for a long time. I knew him since back in the amateurs and he knew how to survive.”
That’s about all Kahn Clary, 28, was able to do in his 32nd professional fight. This stopped a three-fight winning streak for Kahn Clary, who last lost on Oct. 20, 2018, against Kid Galahad.
Stevenson said he would like his first fight in 2021 to be for the WBO junior lightweight belt. That would mean a bout against the winner of the fight between current titleholder Jamel Herring and challenger Carl Frampton.
After that, he said he would like to face WBC junior lightweight champion Miguel Berchelt, potentially setting up a year in which Stevenson could win multiple titles and take another step in his young career.
