Boxing: Shakur Stevenson dominates Teofimo Lopez at MSG, earns WBO junior welterweight belt

In a career marked by dominant performances, Shakur Stevenson submitted his best to date and he did it on boxing’s grandest stage.

Stevenson dominated Teofimo Lopez to win a unanimous decision by three scores of 119-109 at Madison Square Garden. Stevenson, now 25-0, won The Ring and WBO 140-pound titles.

"“I did what I was supposed to do,” Stevenson said. "This is the art of boxing. Hit and don’t get hit. I said I was the best fighter on the planet and I stand by that.”

He sure looked like it. Stevenson was precise and measured. He lost one round in the highly anticipated fight. He was technically superior to Lopez in every facet of the fight. Stevenson has now won a world title in four separate weight classes.

Lopez (22-2) had won six straight bouts coming into the night.

“Every dog has his day,” said Lopez after the fight. He was cut above the left eye. “Congratulations to Shakur. Great guy, great fighter. We put everything on the line."

Stevenson and Lopez both turned pro with promoter Bob Arum after competing in the 2016 Olympics. Stevenson won a silver medal while representing the United States. Lopez lost in the first round while competing for Honduras, the birth country of his parents.

While fight week was marked by contentious verbal jabs lobbed by each fighter’s camp, the two fighters were friends earlier in their careers and fought on the same cards while progressing through the ranks.

LI's Toussaint fights on undercard

Earlier in the evening, Huntington’s Wendy Toussaint lost a 10-round unanimous decision to Austin Williams. Toussaint took the fight on one day’s notice.

On Friday morning, Toussaint was driving his school bus route with no real plans for the weekend. That changed quickly. He was asked to step in when WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames pulled out of his fight against Williams. Toussaint had been training for a fight at the Paramount in late February and jumped at the opportunity to fight at the Garden.

It was no easy task. In addition to fighting on short notice, Toussaint was also moving up in weight. After 10 rounds, the scores were 99-90 and 98-91 twice, all for Williams.

“I was able to take his punches, but I felt the difference in going up in weight,” Toussaint said. “I felt I did the best I could on less than a day’s notice.”

Williams (20-1) is a southpaw and the 8th-ranked middleweight in the world. Toussaint (17-4) never seemed to get on track during the fight. Williams moved in behind a sharp jab in the early rounds while Toussaint launched solid right-hand counters. But Williams’ pressure prevented Toussaint from mounting an effective offense.

Late in the fourth round, Willians dropped Toussaint with a right uppercut. Toussaint recovered and had his best round in the sixth, rocking Williams with an overhand right. But it still wasn't enough.

"We found out 10 a.m. Friday morning," said Kevin Zaharios, Toussaint's manager-trainer. "I called Wendy and he was still driving the school bus. We talked and we both said let’s do it. We feel we can fight with anybody when we have the right time to get ready. So, we said we can’t let this opportunity pass."

Afterward, Toussaint had no regrets and thanked Zaharios and promoter Joe DeGuardia for securing the opportunity.

“I am continuing to build my legacy and show the boxing world what I am capable of doing, on to the next fight” said Toussaint, who drives a bus for the Deer Park school district.

The fight took place at super middleweight, two divisions above Toussaint's normal weight class of 154 pounds. Toussaint weighed in at 167.2 pounds and Williams weighed 168.6.

In the first title bout of the evening, Brooklyn’s Bruce Carrington scored a ninth-round knockout of Carlos Castro to win the vacant WBC featherweight title. Carrington landed a beautiful four-punch combination, punctuated by a left hook-right hand to drop Castro. He was counted out at 1:29 of the round. According to Top Rank, Carrington’s promoter, of all the world champions from Brownsville, Brooklyn — Mike Tyson, Riddick Bowe, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Danny Jacobs, among others — Carrington is the first to win his title at the Garden.

In other bouts, Jarrell "Big Baby" Miller won a split decision over Kingsley Ibeh in a 10-round heavyweight bout. The scores were 97-39 twice for Miller and 96-94 for Ibeh.