Shakur Stevenson vs Joet Gonzalez Odds & Picks

• Stevenson vs Gonzalez goes Saturday, October 26th, at 11:00 PM ET
• Can Stevenson win the grudge match and ensnare a belt in the process?
• Gonzalez is a +300 longshot to hand the highly-touted prospect his first pro loss

Shakur Stevenson and Joet Gonzalez will lock horns this Saturday (Oct. 26th) for the vacant WBO featherweight title at Reno-Sparks Convention Center in Reno, NV. The card will be broadcast on ESPN+.

Stevenson is the number-one ranked featherweight in WBO’s system, while Gonzalez is number two, so the bout made all the sense in the world. Yet oddsmakers see a sizable difference between the pair.

Stevenson vs Gonzalez Odds

*Odds taken Oct. 23.

Stevenson is 22 years old with 12 pro fights and stands poised to potentially become a world champion. Stevenson has had some of his biggest amateur successes in Reno and he looks to maintain that localized success when he fights there as a pro.

The 26-year-old Gonzalez has been waiting a meaningful amount of time for his own crack at a world title, but oddsmakers see him having to wait longer still to actually earn a belt, establishing the LA native as a +300 underdog.

Stevenson Will Win Big in Reno

Gonzalez has nearly double the pro experience of Stevenson, but the latter won an Olympic silver medal in 2016. Both men are highly skilled and are refined technicians in their own right. Pundits and fans theorize this will be a calculated chess match between two high-level young pugilists.

Neither has a remarkable KO rate, but it’s important to observe their recent body of work. Each pugilist has a 75-percent stoppage rate in their last four with Gonzalez knocking out his last three opponents.

They questioned if he could, he answered within Round 1 😏

Relive @ShakurStevenson’s statement victory over Viorel Simion, before his world title shot Saturday night.

FULL FIGHT ➡️ https://t.co/MYbPSSzuyK pic.twitter.com/AGrl7lUehI

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) October 21, 2019

Both have collected their fair share of international hardware and are more than ready to vie for a world championship. Stevenson has collected NABO, Intercontinental, and Continental Americas belts, while Gonzalez has won NABO and Continental titles.

Gonzalez has a strong guard and has fleet footwork. He also has a snapping jab which he’ll want to use early and often. If he lets Sevenson settle into a rhythm, he’ll begin to dictate the pace and run away with the fight. Gonzalez has an amateur victory over world-titlist Gervonta Davis and he is looking to shock people on the pro circuit by picking up similarly big wins.

Stevenson vs Gonzalez Tale of the Tape

This fight also has a personal element to it with both talking some trash in the build up. Gonzalez has spent some time in the ring with Stevenson and has claimed he’d stop him if they fight. Gonzalez was perturbed by some comments Stevenson made about Gonzalez’s family, specifically about his sister.

Though I and many others see this as a technical battle that plays out over all twelve rounds, a KO is by no means out of the realm of possibility. However, if we’re going with the likeliest outcome, it involves the judges’ scorecards. I see Stevenson picking up a unanimous decision victory here.

Pick: Stevenson (-400)