How To Bet WBO Title Fight (Saturday, June 12)

Stevenson vs. Nakathila Odds 

In one of many least-hyped fights in latest reminiscence, Shakur Stevenson (15-0, 8 KOs) returns to the ring to tackle Jeremiah Nakathila (21-1, 17 KOs) in a battle for the vacant WBO junior light-weight interim title on the Virgin Resorts in Las Vegas.

Sandwiched in between subsequent weekend’s light-weight bout between Teofimo Lopez and George Kambosos on Saturday June 19 and final weekend’s “spectacle” between Floyd Mayweather Jr and YouTube star Jake Paul, it’s simple to see why this battle would go unnoticed.

Stevenson is without doubt one of the the perfect up and coming fighters within the sport, rating eighth in Ring Journal’s high 10 junior lightweights. He’s a former WBO featherweight titleholder and 2016 Olympic Silver medalist. Nakathila is unknown to American boxing followers since he’s by no means fought outdoors his residence nation and was the brunt of jokes within the pre-fight press convention when Stevenson was made conscious of his occupation as a police officer in Namibia.

That is nothing greater than a showcase battle for Stevenson who has his eyes set on a possible matchup with WBC junior light-weight champion Oscar Valdez (29-0, 23 KOs) or WBO junior light-weight champion Jamel Herring, who will likely be at ringside in the course of the battle.

Sadly we’re a good distance from seeing these fights. Stevenson enters this battle with no different motive than to remain lively and take a look at his expertise towards Nakathila and whereas he’s unheralded and downright obscure to most boxing followers, it’s arduous to complain about seeing younger up-and-coming star expertise within the ring. 

Oddsmakers have put in the Stevenson as a large favourite — wherever from -5,000 to -10,000 — however let’s analyze the battle and see if we will discover an edge to capitalize on within the betting markets. 

Combat Evaluation

Shakur Stevenson Drawing Mayweather Comparisons

On the tender age of 23, Shakur Stevenson is already drawing comparisons to Floyd Mayweather and and simply 15 fights into his profession he seems to be creating into among the finest pound-for-pound fighters on this planet.

After all, it’s nonetheless early and Stevenson hasn’t fought high stage competitors so till then, there are extra questions than solutions. Like Mayweather, Stevenson is an Olympic medalist which requires a excessive stage of technical ability which has caught with him throughout his skilled profession. He’s an entire fighter who’s solely getting higher.

Stevenson is 5-foot-7 with a 68-inch attain and is what Timothy Bradley refers to as an inverted South Paw as he’s naturally proper handed however prefers the South Paw stance wherein he leads together with his energy hand. Stevenson doesn’t have one punch knockout energy, as he’s received by stoppage in eight of his 15 victories. Nonetheless, he’s extra more likely to win by the buildup of breaking a fighter down.

Though Stevenson is getting Mayweather comparisons, I take a look at Stevenson in an analogous vein as Andre Ward — simply extraordinarily artful, versatile whereas doing the little issues to win. He doesn’t have Mayweather’s athletic items or pop at 130. What makes Stevenson elite is his footwork, quick fingers, correct punches, skill to manage distance and vary, make opponents miss and neutralize an opponent’s greatest punch.

In his 2020 battle towards Felix Caraballo, Stevenson outlanded his opponent 121 to 18, per Compubox. Stevenson can be among the finest in boxing at neutralizing a boxer’s jab. Joet Gonzalez landed simply 4 jabs throughout a 12-round battle towards Stevenson, in line with Compubox.

Nakathila Is a Full Thriller

Jeremiah Nakathila is an enigma to say the least. For starters, he’s by no means fought outdoors of his residence nation of Namibia so anybody however probably the most excessive American boxing fan will probably be unfamiliar with him and but he’s the WBO’s No. 2 contender. Probably the most attention-grabbing factor is that though he’s a tall lanky fighter standing at 5-foot-10, not even a Google search gives any particulars on his attain, a rarity in 2020 the place practically something might be discovered on the Web.

However, I believe that alone makes it fairly clear that High Rank discovered somebody to place into the ring so Stevenson can look good and present case his expertise to be able to keep busy.

After movie of Nakathila, it’s clear he has energy and the aggressiveness to make it a enjoyable and thrilling battle, however he lacks each hand and foot pace whereas additionally being flat-footed. He has some dimension so it’s potential that it could possibly be a problem for Stevenson as he’s adjusting within the first spherical however these are two fighters in numerous lessons.

With all due respect to Nakathila, he’s by no means fought anybody on Stevenson’s stage and you need to marvel if he’ll even take a lot time to really feel Nakathila out. Nakathila is kind of predictable — Stevenson shouldn’t have any issues neutralizing his proper hand whereas countering and choosing him aside offensively. 

Stevenson vs Nakathila Decide

Shakur is a rising star seeking to make his imprint on the game of boxing and get greater fights towards Oscar Valdez or Jamel Herring. You get these alternatives by placing on good exhibits.

He’s combating an inexperienced fighter in Nakathila hasn’t fought outdoors of his residence nation or anybody the extent of Stevenson, who’s on the trail to being among the finest technical fighters within the sport.

Nakathila is sluggish, he telegraphs his punches and he’s tailor made for Stevenson to look good on Saturday evening. This has all of the makings of a stoppage and across the seventh or eighth spherical. 

The Decide:  Shakur Stevenson by KO, TKO or DQ (-250)