Just before Shakur’s points win over Artem Harutyunyan, Keith Idec spoke to a number of interested parties within Top Rank, including the three-weight world champion himself. Here’s what he found…
SHAKUR Stevenson will explore unfamiliar territory soon after another title fight on Saturday night in his hometown. Stevenson will make his first defense of the WBC lightweight championship he won seven months ago against Germany’s Artem Harutyunyan.
A crowd of more than 10,000 is expected at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, where Stevenson will speak on the card for the third time in the past 21 months.
Most sportsbooks list Stevenson as at least a 25-1 favorite over Harutyunyan, however, which has shifted much of the pre-fight focus to the three-weight world champion’s free agency.
Stevenson, 27, turned down a five-fight contract extension from Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc. he gave him just before Harutyunyan was secured as his opponent for the Sky Sports Main Event which will be televised in the UK on Sunday morning (1am BST) and on ESPN in the United States late on Saturday night.
Barring an injury to the tough Stevenson (21-0, 10 KOs), who has yet to postpone or cancel a fight in seven years as champion, those five fights would have been within two years, which would have done Stevenson. is a promotional free agent and is 29 years old.
The 2016 Olympic silver medalist insists that he is worth more money than the Top Rank he is awarded per fight. Stevenson has not been confirmed for the long term sought by IBF lightweight champion Vasily Lomachenko, or, as part of a deal proposed by Arum’s company, Lomachenko’s long-time promoter.
Vasily Lomachenko celebrates stopping George Kambosos (Mikey Williams/Top Position)
So Houston-based Stevenson wants to find out how much competing promoters would be willing to pay a successful southpaw whose skills and ring IQ warrant consideration in the top 10 pound-for-pound.
Arum wouldn’t disclose the small purses Stevenson would earn as part of the proposed package, but the 92-year-old Hall-of-Fame promoter doesn’t think it rivals the likes of Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing or Oscar De La Hoya’s Gold. Boy Promotions will give Stevenson more money than Top Rank.
“I was surprised he turned down the deal,” Arum said Debate News. “I didn’t think it was a wise decision on his part, but we will see.” He has certainly lived up to his contract. He fought for us for many, many years. And he never broke the terms of the contract, so we have absolutely no complaints.”
Viewers raved about Stevenson’s performance in his last fight – a boring 12-round, unanimous decision win over Edwin De Los Santos on November 16 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Stevenson defeated De Los Santos on the cards of judges Tim Cheatham (116-112), David Sutherland (116-112) and Steve Weisfeld (115-113), however he left many fans frustrated because he did not engage with the strong southpaw. throughout their 135-pound belt.
The Dominican Republic’s De Los Santos struggled to press the action and drew criticism for failing to prevent Stevenson from moving around the ring.
Shakur Stevenson’s showboats are on their way to Edwin De Los Santos in Las Vegas (Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)
Injuries to his left hand and right shoulder affected Stevenson’s training camp last fall, but he underwent physical therapy before and after the fight with De Los Santos (16-2, 14 KOs) and avoided surgical procedures. His win against De Los Santos, however, was Stevenson’s second disappointing performance in a major ESPN televised event in recent years.
Stevenson previously invited backlash by using safety first in his defeat of Jeremiah Nakathila in June 2021 at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.
The former WBO featherweight and WBO super-featherweight champion knocked out Nakathila in the fourth round and shut him out by identical scores, 120-107, on all three cards, however Stevenson challenged the struggling Namibian in the final six rounds once. Nakathila caught Stevenson with a right hand late in the sixth round in their 12-round fight for the WBO interim 130-pound title.
The unfortunate nature of his win against De Los Santos makes it more important than ever, according to Arum, for Stevenson to impress while coming off a convincing win against Harutyunyan.
“I think it’s a good test for Shakur,” Arum said. “I don’t see anyone really hitting him. I just hope so [Harutyunyan] it brings out the best in Shakur and we see a really exciting fight. [Stevenson has] I have to fight a happy fight. I mean, boxing is a sports competition, but it’s also entertainment. And if you don’t make the fans happy, people lose interest.”
Stevenson feels that he is in a “losing position” in terms of entertaining people because he feels he is willing to fight out of the pocket during his victories over former 130-pound champion Jamel Herring and Oscar Valdez at 135-pounds. Shuichiro Yoshino.
He stopped Herring at 10th round of his first fight after defeating Nakathila, he knocked out Valdez in the sixth round on his way to a three-point win in his next match and then separated the then-undefeated Yoshino, dropping him twice before their April 2023 fight.
Shakur Stevenson (L) and Shuichiro Yoshino (R) face off (Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)
“I’m so good that the bar is set so high for me,” Stevenson said, “that I feel like I’m going in there and I’m standing there with this guy, I’m getting beat, but I’m getting beat, and the main thing is going to be, ‘Oh, well, Shakur gets beat, this, that and and the third.’ But then, I just take him out and make it look easy, and then, ‘Oh, well, he doesn’t take chances. He doesn’t take risks.’ No matter how they put it, someone will say it. I remember when I fought Jamel, Valdez and Yoshino, a lot of people kept saying that I’m flat and I just stand in front of people, that I’m not like a person who moves, and that will be my downfall
“And I have told people that if I need to move, I can move too. I can do it all in the boxing ring. I think since I’m just versatile, I can do whatever I want. But, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what other people think. It only matters what I believe and what I think. They’ll turn it around and say, ‘Oh, well, you’re fighting for the fans.’ I fight for the fans, those who are most interested in my talent. I’m not like a lot of money hungry. I just love the sport of boxing, so it is what it is. I can’t please everyone.”
Meanwhile, Harutyunyan will fight for the first time since he gave Frank Martin a bigger than expected challenge last July 15 at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
The 33-year-old boxer, who was born in Armenia, took a knee in 12th The round of their most contested fight was lost 115-112 on the cards of Cheatham and Max De Luca and 114-113, according to Weisfeld.
Stevenson still doesn’t think Harutyunyan (12-1, 7 KOs), a bronze medalist for Germany at the 2016 Summer Olympics, or Martin (18-1, 12 KOs), who was knocked out by Gervonta Davis in the eighth round of June. 15, are as close as he is.
“He’s a very good boxer,” Stevenson said of Harutyunyan, who is ranked seventh in the WBC. “It’s tough, it’s tough. From what I heard from Frank Martin, he said he was strong. I think he can present a good test.”
The ever-confident Stevenson added, however, “I look at Frank, and I already know that Frank is not on my level. So, I looked [Martin-Harutyunyan], I looked at it and saw what I needed to see. But I don’t really like to take too much from it because, at the end of the day, Frank and I are on two different levels. I am much better than Frank.”
Assuming Stevenson manages Harutyunyan, he’ll likely be forced into another lower-profile fight than he wants next, regardless of which promoter signs him. The two most prominent opponents Stevenson wanted to face – Lomachenko (18-3, 12 KOs) and Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) – finally appeared ready to fight each other next.
Other options include Mexican southpaw William Zepeda (30-0, 26 KOs), Stevenson’s title challenger, and WBO lightweight champion Denys Berinchyk (19-0, 9 KOs), who upset Emanuel Navarrete by unanimous decision. May 18 in San Diego. Zepeda is promoted by Golden Boy, while Ukraine’s Berinchyk is represented by Top Rank.
Berinchyk is the new WBO lightweight champion (Image: Top position)
“I’ve been hearing Bob say a lot of things like I have nowhere to go and things like that,” Stevenson said. But to be honest, I feel like I’m in the best seat. I feel very comfortable in the house.
“We can all act like Lomachenko and Tank is a big fight, but we all know that Tank and I are the biggest fight in boxing if it ever happens. And I feel like I’m in the seat I’m in, I think everyone in the business should want to be involved with me.”
Arum and his executive staff want to stay in business with Stevenson, who Top Rank has promoted since his debut in April 2017. That decision will ultimately rest with Stevenson, who has not yet decided to re-sign with Top Rank. he checks his market value after facing Harutyunyan.
“He’s a huge talent,” said Carl Moretti, Top Rank’s vice president of boxing operations. “I wish we could have him for another five years. They decided not to accept the offer, which he had the right to do.
“Whether he fights for us or someone else, I will continue to watch him fight. I worked with Pernell Whitaker for many years [while with promoter Main Events]. And watching Shakur feels like I’m watching ‘Sweet Pea’ all over again.”
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