Shakur Stevenson vs Jeremiah Nakathila Preview

Saturday July 12th Bob Arums Top Rank present a Super featherweight contest where we have rising star Shakur Stevenson headlining the show as he takes on hard hitting Namibian Jeremiah Nakathila at the Virgin Hotels, Las Vegas Nevada. This bill will be televised by ESPN over in the states.

The co main event former world champion Jose ‘Sniper’ Pedraza takes on upcoming prospect Julian ‘Hammer hands’ Rodriguez and rounding of a bill of future champions Puerto Rican hot prospect 18 year old Xander Zayas

The former WBO featherweight champion Shakur Stevenson , Hailing from New Jersey USA, He brings a unbeaten record of 15 wins 8 by KO. Shakur had a decorated amateur career; he is a former Youth Olympics Gold medalist and picked up silver at the Rio Olympics in 2016. Shakur is in his 4th year as a professional. 

His opponent is the hard hitting Nambian Jeremiah Nakathila, who will be fighting outside of Africa for only the second time in his career. He brings an impressive 21 win with 17 KO's to the ring. His only loss came when he travelled to Russia back in 2016.

I am very excited about the future career of Shakur Stevenson, with his skill set and amateur pedigree coupled along with having Andre Ward on his management team he is destined to become a superstar.

Looking at Shakurs fight he is capable of fighting on both the front and back foot and is very good defensively, Shakur has very fast hands and at 5’8 he has the height to grow and go up through the weight divisions and is the closest fighter I have seen to being a Floyd Mayweather. On top of the skill set he has; he is also a southpaw.

Looking at some of the Stevenson's wins , 2 of the standout wins are Christopher Diaz who recently went 12 rounds with Emmanuel Navarette, getting knocked out in last 15 seconds and the then unbeaten Joet Gonzalez. In the fight against Gonzalez Stevenson put on an absolute Masterclass, he was able to confuse the aggressive come forward Gonzalez with his speed and movement. In his 11th fight he took on Chris Diaz and again was too fast and intelligent for the Puerto Rican.

I love the variation of punches from Shakur, he has fantastic jab variation and goes up and down extremely fluently and has all the shots on the book. At 24 years old he is only going to get better

Nakathila has campaigned his whole career at Super featherweight and is clear that he carries power.

It is hard to decipher how good Nakathila is, there are no recognizable names on his record and looking at his record his opponents have always had a few losses prior to him fighting them. Looking at the footage and reviewing his record, this looks to be a straightforward assignment for the young American

In the Co Main event we have the experienced former IBF Champion Jose Pedraza, taken on unbeaten 26 year old Julian Rodriguez

Jose Pedraza will be looking to haul himself back into title contention with his 3rd victory in a row since his defeat against Jose Zepeda back in September 2019. Pedraza has only been bested by world level operators and will be wary of the power his opponent carries and will look to keep the younger man on the end of his jab similar to how he fought and beat Ray Beltran, continuously keeping the tough Mexican off balance in that contest.

Rodriguez is naturally the stronger man having campaigned at super lightweight his whole career he will be looking to impose his strength and power shots on Pedraza and look to break him down as the fight progresses. Rodriguez will look to follow Jose Zepeda’s lead and not allow Pedraza to settle and use his natural advantages on the inside. If Rodriguez can get the stoppage it will be a real statement sent out to the Super lightweight division.

Xander Zayas is an 18 year old future superstar who is knocking people out at such a early stage in his career , he looks destined for bigger things. He has a successful amateur career winning several national championship tournaments including the 2018 U.S Youth National Championships. This will be his 5th fight in 9 months and although the current level opponent is low the raw potential is there for all to see. If Zayas can keep winning and improving then in the next 2-3 years we will see him in against more recognizable names. This Saturday will be looking to gain another stoppage against Irishman Larry Fryers 

The Predictions

Here at Mathias on Boxing we see the 3 undefeated fighters keeping it that way. Shakur Stevenson to hopefully demonstrate his full skill set and secure a fight with Jamel Herring later in the year. 

A changing of the guard as we believe Julian Rodriguez elevates himself to a contender where Pedraza becomes a gateway fight to future champions.

Xander Zayas again to demonstrate his power and ever developing skill set and another KO victory.