Two judges with whom Shakur Stevenson and Oscar Valdez are familiar will officially score their fight Saturday night.
BoxingScene.com has learned that the Nevada State Athletic Commission assigned Nevada judges Tim Cheatham and Dave Moretti and Oklahoma’s David Sutherland to work their 12-round, 130-pound title unification fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Nevada’s Kenny Bayless has been chosen as the referee who’ll officiate their fight.
Moretti has scored four of Stevenson’s past five fights and three of Valdez’s previous four bouts. Cheatham has worked one Stevenson and Valdez bout apiece since June 2019.
Sutherland hasn’t scored any fights in which Stevenson or Valdez participated.
Moretti most recently scored Stevenson a 120-107 winner over Jeremiah Nakathila last June 12 at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. Stevenson won all 12 rounds on each scorecard that night and dropped Namibia’s Nakathila during the fourth round.
Cheatham and Moretti each had Stevenson in front by wide margins – 50-43 and 50-44, respectively – when the undefeated southpaw knocked out Puerto Rico’s Felix Caraballo in the sixth round of their June 2020 match at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas. A year earlier, Cheatham credited Valdez for winning 10 of 12 rounds against American Jason Sanchez, who was knocked down during the fifth round and lost 118-109 according to Cheatham at Reno-Sparks Convention Center in Reno, Nevada.
Two fights later, however, Moretti had Valdez ahead by a slimmer margin, 85-84, than two other judges before he knocked out Puerto Rico’s Jayson Velez in the 10th round of their July 2020 bout at MGM Grand Conference Center. Patricia Morse Jarman (89-80) and Steve Weisfeld (88-81) had Valdez in front more comfortably before he sent Velez to the canvas twice in the 10th round and ended their fight with 37 seconds remaining in it.
Bayless has officiated one fight apiece for Stevenson and Valdez.
The 24-year-old Stevenson (17-0, 9 KOs), a 2016 Olympic silver medalist from Newark, New Jersey, and the 31-year-old Valdez (30-0, 23 KOs), of Nogales, Mexico, will fight for Stevenson’s WBO junior lightweight title and Valdez’s WBC super featherweight crown. ESPN will televise Stevenson-Valdez as the main event of a three-bout broadcast scheduled to start at 10 p.m. ET.
Caesars Sportsbook lists Stevenson as nearly a 6-1 favorite to defeat Valdez.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
