A huge brawl has abruptly cancelled the Stevenson-Valdez press conference.
“I mean, what do you think?” Shakur Stevenson said when asked about deserving to be ranked among boxing’s top pound-for-pound after his dominant win over Oscar Valdez.
The 24-year-old was answering questions after unifying the WBC, WBO and Ring super featherweight titles, but unfortunately, that post-fight press conference didn’t last very long. A brawl suddenly broke out, and Stevenson cut things short as he immediately rushed out of his media session.
Details are scarce at the moment, but it reportedly involved his family and team.
And a fight broke out just outside of the press conference. Shakur Stevenson darted off stage, world titles on his shoulders, into the fray.
— Andreas Hale (@AndreasHale) May 1, 2022
Apparently two women are accused of attacking Shakur Stevenson’s mother, which abuptly concluded the news conference when Shakur rushed to her aid. Was unclear what was happening in real time #ValdezStevenson
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) May 1, 2022
Situation is resolved. Looks like it was between Shakur’s family and security. Punches were thrown. I’m sure video will pop up soon.
— Andreas Hale (@AndreasHale) May 1, 2022
The cancelled press conference and the ensuing chaos were captured on the YouTube video embedded above, but here’s a couple of clips also showing punches being thrown.
HUGE BRAWL AT MGM
Confirmed that shakur mom was involved pic.twitter.com/6S0RYrGGLp— Adrian (@doug_817) May 1, 2022
Crazy scene at @MGMGrand interrupting @ShakurStevenson press conference #ValdezStevenson pic.twitter.com/iLJwbicquV
— The Schmo (@TheSchmo312) May 1, 2022
Wow. Wasn’t expecting that breakout. What a shame to see at the end of a great fight night. @ShakurStevenson @AgFight #ValdezStevenson #boxing #toprank pic.twitter.com/GOzYgthahp
— Louis Grasse (@LouisGrasse) May 1, 2022
Prior to all the madness, Stevenson was having a pretty huge night. He took home new belts, improved to 18-0, and significantly raised his profile within the boxing community. To add to that, he also got engaged in the ring right after.
SHE SAID YES @shakurstevenson popped the question after his big win. @ESPNRingside #ValdezStevenson pic.twitter.com/xq2biWndQ4
— ESPN (@espn) May 1, 2022