One of the most talented young boxers in the sport today is out to win his second title in another weight class. Shakur Stevenson (15-0 with eight knockouts) claimed the WBO featherweight title in October 2019. Stevenson is now looking to win the WBO interim junior lightweight title, but Jeremiah Nakathila has other ideas. Nakathila (21-1 with 17 knockouts) has been one of the top junior lightweights in the world for the last few years.
This title fight will be held in Sin City, as Las Vegas remains the premier place to watch boxing. Stevenson and Nakathila will headline a promotion that will air on ESPN on Saturday, June 12, 2021 at 10 p.m. ET.
When: Saturday, June 12, 2021
Where: Virgin Hotels, Las Vegas, Nevada
Why: WBO interim junior lightweight belt
Shakur Stevenson vs Jeremiah Nakathila Betting Odds
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We haven’t seen any boxing betting odds released for this bout just yet, but Stevenson is expected to be a heavy favorite. Stevenson might be as much as a -5000 favorite, and if you are unfamiliar with betting on boxing, that means you would have to wager $5000 on him to win $100. That would make Nakathila around a +1500 underdog, so a $100 wager on him would return $1500 at that price.
As the fight nears, there will be decision betting too. You will be able to bet on whether the fight is decided by KO, TKO, or decision, and you can bet on which boxer will win the fight in that fashion as well.
Shakur Stevenson vs Jeremiah Nakathila Preview
If you don’t know the name Shakur Stevenson just yet, you should make sure to check out this fight. Stevenson is a 23-year-old powerhouse that could be the best technical boxer since Floyd Mayweather Jr. He won a gold medal at the Youth Olympic Games and the Youth World Championships in 2014, and he was a silver medalist at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Stevenson made his highly anticipated professional debut in April 2017. He defeated Edgar Brito in his first fight and followed that up with a quick TKO of Carlos Gaston Suarez. In all, he won his first nine matches in the span of 18 months before taking part in his first title fight.
In January 2019, Stevenson beat Jessie Cris Rosales by fourth round TKO to win the IBF Intercontinental and WBC Continental Americas featherweight belts. That was followed by a unanimous decision victory over Christopher Diaz for the WBO-NABO featherweight belt. Stevenson successfully defended that strap against Alberto Guevara three months after winning it, earning a third-round knockout.
His first major title came 20 months ago when he dominated Joet Gonzalez to win the WBO featherweight belt. Stevenson won 11 of the 12 rounds on all three judges’ scorecards, giving a masterclass performance with the unanimous decision win.
Stevenson scored a knockout of Felix Caraballo and a unanimous decision win over Toka Khan Clary to set up this junior lightweight title fight with Nakathila.
This will be Jeremiah Nakathila’s second fight outside of Africa. The Namibian Nakathila has fought 19 of his 21 fights in his home country, and his other two bouts were in South Africa and Russia.
Nakathila won the WBO Africa super featherweight title in August 2016. That earned him a shot at the WBO Intercontinental super featherweight belt three months later. He suffered a majority decision loss to Evgeny Chuprakov in Russia in that fight.
Since that defeat, Nakathila has won all of his fights by knockout. He reclaimed the WBO Africa super featherweight belt with a win over Said Mohamed Hassan, and he defended that belt against Sibusiso Zingange, Patrick Okine, Wilson Masamba, and Prince Dlomo.
He won the WBO Global super featherweight belt with a TKO of Zoltan Kovacs in April 2019, and he defended that belt twice before this fight. Nakathila was impressive in wins over Peter Pambeni and Emmanuel Amos, but Stevenson is in a completely different class.
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