SPORTS WRAP
STORY & PHOTOS BY WILLIAM HATHAWAY, JR.
This past week in the city of Newark there was a lot of excitement as Brick City native Shakur Stevenson came back to his hometown and community. A community rally was held at the Boylan Street Recreation Center, where Stevenson got to meet and greet local youth. He told those in attendance what it takes to be a champion. City Council officials also attended along with community leaders.
The next day, there was a press conference on Sept. 21 in which all the boxers who were planning to fight on Sept. 24 were present. Shakur Stevenson was presented a proclamation from the City of Newark, declaring it “Shakur Stevenson Day” in the city. Quitman Street School Principal Courtney Johnson was there, as Stevenson attended that school in his younger days, as well as Newark Public Schools Superintendent Roger Leon, who presented Stevenson a personalized Quitman Street School shirt.
On Saturday, Sept. 24, it was fight night before a sellout crowd at the Prudential Center. Boxing fans from all over the tri-state area came to see Top Rank boxing. Local area boxers took to the undercard, like Floyd Diaz who defeated Juan Hernandez in a six round featherweight division. Bruce Carrington defeated Jose Argel in a six round featherweight fight, and Pablo Valdez beat Noe Alejandro Lopez in a six round junior middleweight division bout.
In the main event, Stevenson, who was sadly stripped of his title status due to not making weight, dominated his opponent Robson Conceicao by unanimous decision in 12 rounds. The loss of the title status wasn’t a big deal for Stevenson, as he planned on moving up in weight anyway.
In other sports news, the Jets got pounced at home by the Bengals 27-12, while the Giants took a home loss to the Cowboys 23-16. Finally, the Yankees won the AL East title, but as of deadline, Aaron Judge is still looking to tie Roger Maris’s single-season home run mark.
