JESSIE Cris Rosales lost his US debut after a fourth round stoppage by unbeaten former Olympian Shakur Stevenson last Saturday at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, New York.
Stevenson immediately displayed his slick footwork and fast hands as he made Rosales miss his punches in the opening round. Rosales started to connect, most of it body shots, in the second round but Stevenson calmly moved around the ring and answered with his combinations to the head and body.
In the third round, the 21-year-old 2016 Olympic silver medalist landed a counter left that rocked Rosales. Stevenson continued to land his punches by mixing it up to the head and body.
Stevenson finally landed two straight left punches to the head that dropped Rosales on his back in the fourth round. He stood up and beat the count of referee Charlie Fitch. However, he was still wobbly and Fitch decided to stop it at the 1:29 mark.
Stevenson won both the International Boxing Federation (IBF) Inter-Continental and World Boxing Council (WBC) Continental Americas featherweight belts. He remained unbeaten with 10-0 with six knockouts. The 27-year-old Rosales suffered just his second career defeat and dropped to 22-2-1 with 10 knockouts. (EKA)