Shakur Stevenson vs. Robson Conceicao Prediction: Finding Value With Shakur Stevenson

Shakur Stevenson vs. Robson Conceicao Prediction: Finding Value With Shakur Stevenson

Shakur Stevenson vs. Robson Conceicao Start Time, Where to Watch, and Odds

• Date: Friday, September 23
• Time: 10:00 pm ET
• Where to Watch: ESPN

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Shakur Stevenson vs. Robson Conceicao Prediction

Rising prospect Shakur Stevenson is back in action after defeating Oscar Valdez for the WBC and WBO titles back in April. Across the ring will be Brazilian contender Robson Conceicao, who is coming off a win against Xavier Martinez back in January. The undefeated Stevenson enters this bout as a massive -2400 favorite. Can Stevenson take care of business as the books expect him to?

First, Stevenson will forfeit his title and be stripped for missing weight yesterday. Stevenson came in over a pound too heavy and went to Twitter to explain himself, saying he cannot make 130 pounds anymore and has to fight at 135 in the future due to health issues.

He said in his tweet, "I gave it my all. I’ve been professional my whole career and made weight, but my body just can’t make 130 anymore. My health has to come first. I’m moving up to 135 in my next fight".

This is heartbreaking for Stevenson, as this fight is no longer a title defense, but rest assured he will still give it his all. We saw a similar situation happen in the UFC when Charles Oliveira missed weight for his title bout and still came out determined to win to get the next shot at getting it back.

At this stage in their careers, Stevenson is too much for Conceicao. At one point, Conceicao was arguably better, although he does have eight years of age on Stevenson. Conceicao won the lightweight gold medal in the 2016 Olympics; the same Olympics Stevenson lost the gold medal fight in. Since then, it has been Stevenson who has the better resume, knocking off international opponents one by one. Stevenson's most recent opponent, Oscar Valdez, beat Conceicao two fights ago in September of last year. That, in my mind, cements where we are at for this fight.

Stevenson has the quicker speed, better timing, and overall better technique at this point. The line is obviously way too wide to think about the moneyline here, which means we have to look at a prop. I like Stevenson to win by decision in this fight, even though it is still juicy. Conceicao has never been knocked out in his pro career, and Stevenson has three decision wins in his past four fights. I'm willing to eat a little bit of juice in what should be a dominant decision win for Stevenson.

Shakur Stevenson vs. Robson Conceicao Pick

• Pick: Stevenson wins by decision @ -180 (Bet $180 to win $100)