Shakur Stevenson is reportedly close to agreeing on a deal to face Artem Harutyunyan on July 6 in Newark, New Jersey.
Stevenson recently reversed his retirement following his poor showing against Edwin De Los Santos. Despite winning the WBC Lightweight Title, his style of boxing was criticized. Shakur was reluctant to engage, fighting off his jab to win a unanimous decision.
De Los Santos’ failure to cut the ring off did not help the spectacle. Stevenson later revealed that he had injured his hand coming into the fight. There has been plenty of speculation over who he could face. After stopping Maxi Hughes, William Zepeda called out the WBC Lightweight Champion.
“That was what we worked on throughout this camp. It’s no secret, just an old-school approach. We target the body and work our way up to the head. We were very pleased with the results tonight. In a perfect world, I want Shakur next.
“I’m ready to answer that call. We’re going to sit down as a team and discuss what’s next for me. But I really feel out of all the champions out there, my style and Shakur’s match up the best. He needs an opponent and July is perfect timing for me to return,” Zepeda said
Oscar De La Hoya questioned Stevenson’s skills and doubted whether he would take the fight. Shakur responded, as both men had a verbal exchange.
We will see if @ShakurStevenson still wants the smoke after @williamzepeda2 fights this Saturday at @CosmopolitanLas @DAZNBoxing pic.twitter.com/O8yCG9VUv7
— Oscar De La Hoya (@OscarDeLaHoya) March 12, 2024
Don’t threaten me with a good time.. I’m ready to pick your killer apart whenever he ready lol https://t.co/GE56hPt90c
— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) March 12, 2024
Be capping pic.twitter.com/HQY9IvLaV8
— $ (@eazymil) March 27, 2024
Shakur also turned his attention towards facing Ryan Garcia if the latter pulled out of his fight with Devin Haney. The two boxers will face off on April 20 as Haney defends his WBC Junior Welterweight Title. There have been concerns that Garcia’s mental health may see him withdraw from the fight.
He has spoken about drinking alcohol and smoking weed, all of which will hamper his preparation. He has also been heavily posting on social media over topics such as human trafficking as he continues to express his passion for activism. Haney responded by mocking Stevenson for even suggesting the idea of stepping in.
“Shakur, he say a lot but he don’t fight nobody. We don’t see him fight nobody, we ain’t seen it. He calls everybody’s name out, he was just calling out my name to fight me. This was the day before yesterday and then today seen he’s fighting June — whatever he’s fighting — and he got an opponent already. He’s fighting a guy, Zaur Abdullaev, the guy I already beat. So he going backwards,” Haney said
Those fights did not get made, leaving Stevenson with Harutyunyan. Harutyunyan lost to Frank Martin, who took a knee in the final round to lose a unanimous decision. Shakur must face top-level competition for a three-division champion looking for the biggest fights.
Nobody knows this dude
— boxingfan333 (@boxingfan3333) March 29, 2024
Teo and Shakur fighting taxi drivers when they should be fighting each other lol
— Edgar Alvarez (@EdgarAlvarezzzz) March 29, 2024
People have to understand that all the fighters at 135 are currently booked for a fight. Nobody is available and @ShakurStevenson likes to stay active. So this is probably his only option available at this current moment. Yall need to relax and understand how the business works
— Bigherk 10 (@Bigherk_10) March 29, 2024
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