Shakur Stevenson vs Felix Caraballo Odds and Picks for Full Card

Stevenson was being targeted for a fight with Rafael Rivera but coronavirus related visa issues derailed those plans. Also worth noting is that Stevenson is taking this fight at junior lightweight while presently holding a featherweight world title. Stevenson will not be vacating that belt but is taking a fight in an outside class to see “what the new weight feels like”. It has been over seven months since Stevenson last competed and this was where he captured the vacant WBO world featherweight strap by besting Joet Gonzalez.

Stevenson vs Caraballo

Some fans and pundits alike are kind of cold on this one because it reads like a bit of a mismatch on paper. While both have 13 professional wins, the resumes are a great deal different. Caraballo is fighting outside his native Puerto Rico for the first time in his career and doesn’t have any wins on the level of Stevenson’s. Never mind the professional resumes but the amateur experience between the two paints a vivid picture as well. Stevenson won an Olympic silver medal at 19 while Caraballo didn’t step into a boxing gym until he was 20.

The technical proficiency and masterful ringcraft that Stevenson has from his vast, elite-level amateur experience cannot be understated here.

Power + Precision = ?#BoxingIsBack news, feat. @ShakurStevenson, is right around the corner… ? pic.twitter.com/dsC9F6nGpd

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) June 1, 2020

Caraballo winning would truly be a Rocky story. This pugilist works a fulltime job at a warehouse and gets up at 3:30 AM every day to do roadwork before his 7 AM shift time. He then does intensive boxing training/strength and conditioning after his shift is over. You can’t help but rally behind a guy like that but this sport often does not lead to fairytale endings. Shakur Stevenson is a smooth southpaw fighter who has a skill set that can cause any champion around his size headaches.

Caraballo is motivated and determined but fighting on the club circuit and on world title caliber platforms mark two very different levels in the game.

Stevenson vs Caraballo Tale of the Tape

Stevenson turns 23 later this month and has yet to settle into his competitive prime. This is a scary thought for future competitors considering where Shakur Stevenson is presently at. Caraballo enters this bout on a five-fight win streak but I theorize that will be halted come next week. I see the former bludgeoning the latter when Stevenson vs Caraballo goes down. Though not necessarily known for being a huge KO artist, I think that Shakur Stevenson will score a TKO stoppage inside of six rounds.

Pick: Shakur Stevenson (-10000)

Picks for the Remainder of the Card

1. Mikaela Mayer vs Helen Joseph: Mayer has been making a calculated rise up the rankings for the last couple of years now. I see Mayer rising to the occasion in this co-main event slot (the first co-main feature of her career) just as she has done in her prior outings. Pick: Mikaela Mayer (-2000)
2. Guido Vianello vs Don Haynesworth: Vianello brings a lot to the table and is an exciting, rising heavyweight prospect. He is 6-0 with a one hundred percent KO rate and I think he maintains that come Tuesday night. Pick: Guido Vianello (-5000)
3. Jared Anderson vs Johnnie Langston: Anderson is another unbeaten heavyweight KO artist with a perfect knockout rate. While Langston might have a speed edge (due to his cruiserweight past) and might be able to use crafty southpaw tactics, I see Anderson scoring his fourth straight pro-KO. Pick: Jared Anderson (-10000)
4. Robeisy Ramirez vs Yeuri Andujar: This bout has the greatest underdog value, for sure. Both have fought a similar level of competition, Andujar has more than double the pro experience of Ramirez, and also both are early on enough in their careers where the parity between pugilists is more evident.  Pick: Yeuri Andujar (+850)