Stevenson v Yoshino predictions and boxing betting tips: Home hero can put on a show

Where to watch Stevenson v Yoshino

Sky Sports Action, approx 4am Sunday

Best bets

Shakur Stevenson to win in rounds seven to 12
1pt 4-1 Betfair, Paddy Power

Stevenson v Yoshino predictions

Shakur Stevenson makes the step-up to lightweight to take on Shuichiro Yoshino in a WBC title eliminator in the early hours of Sunday morning. 

The Newark native will have a home New Jersey crowd on his side at the Prudential Centre and the 25-year-old can show why he is one of the stars of the sport. 

Stevenson was stripped of his WBC and WBO super-featherweight titles when failing to make the weight against Robson Conceicao in September, but the Brick City boxer was a comfortable winner of that contest and moving up to lightweight spells trouble for the 135lbs division. 

The American has produced a string of extremely impressive victories over good operators in Oscar Valdez, Jamel Herring and Jeremia Nakathila, and Stevenson’s speed, skill and movement are a seriously impressive sight. 

Yoshino is unbeaten in 16 professional contests and there are good wins over Masayuki Ito and Masayoshi Nakatani on the 31-year-old's card. However, this is a major step up for a fighter who has never fought outside his native Japan and a late Stevenson stoppage could be a value play. 

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