The only possible gripe about Shakur Stevenson's performance Saturday night? That he didn't produce a stoppage.
Stevenson was that superior, that many levels ahead of Jeremiah Nakathila in coasting to a shutout unanimous decision at The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. Judges all scored it 120-107 in favor of Stevenson, who improved to 16-0 and captured the WBO interim junior lightweight championship of the world in the process.
Although the 23-year-old Stevenson flashed his megawatt smile, he was also his own biggest critic.
"I ain't really like my performance," Stevenson said following the lopsided decision. "I feel like I could have performed a lot better. He was an awkward, awkward fighter."
Stevenson demonstrated the same defensive boxing wizardry that we've been accustomed to from him, as he landed 114 punches to Nakathila's 28. But in the midst of doing so, Stevenson fielded boos from the crowd, which was desiring a stoppage.
"I tried to a little bit, but I started getting hit with some solid shots and I didn't really like it," added Stevenson about trying to get Nakathila out of there to avoid the decision. "Next time, I'm going to work on moving my head a little bit more and stepping it up a little bit more."
With the victory, Stevenson becomes the mandatory challenger for WBO junior lightweight champion Jamel Herring, but would rather clash with WBC titleholder Oscar Valdez.
"If I had the choice, I'll take Oscar Valdez, but if I got to beat up Jamel to get to it, I'll do that, too," Stevenson said. "Jamel can't beat me. Jamel know what it is."
Herring, who was in attendance, vowed that he'll be a greater threat to Stevenson than Nakathila managed to muster.
While that remains to be seen, Stevenson controlled every minute of every round against Nakathila on Saturday night. After quickly asserting distance and his jab, there wasn't any stopping Stevenson at all. He landed a clean right hook that dropped Nakathila in the second round, although it seemed to be incorrectly ruled a slip. Stevenson detonated the same punch during the fourth to score a flash knockdown.
When he wasn't hitting Nakathila, he avoided harm's way on the other end by completely eluding punches in another sample size of his defensive brilliance.
While Stevenson may need to use his power and show more urgency against better opponents, he recorded another boxing master class, drowning out yet another opponent with a deluge of sweet science skills.