Written by: Sean Crose
Gervonta Davis. Vasyl Lomachenko. Devin Haney. Teofimo Lopez. These men are all in the weight class of WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson. With a record of twenty-one wins against zero losses, the twenty-seven-year-old Stevenson would be a top contender for any of the names mentioned above. Stevenson is more than just an undefeated title, after all. He is considered one of the best fighters in the world. Highly talented and sometimes hilarious, the Newark, New Jersey, product is good — too good — maybe too good for his own good.
Stevenson, after all, has been accused of being a boring fighter. However, while he is not a winning performer, it was the man's last fight – a twelve-round knockout against Edwin De Los Santos last November – that really raised eyebrows. While there was no doubt that Stevenson bested De Los Santos that night, the question of why Stevenson didn't pick it up and stop De Los Santos mid-range, or at least look really engaged, began to make the rounds. Stevenson himself admitted that he was not happy with his performance. Boxing, which is a business at least as much as it is a sport, does not accept fighters who do not generate some kind of excitement in or out of the ring. Stevenson, more than anyone, knows he has to at least have fun to get the kind of fame and challenges he wants.
One way for Stevenson to create the kind of attention-grabbing and hyped upheaval is for the highly-promoted fighter to impress this weekend against Artem Harutyunyan on Saturday night in his hometown of Newark, New Jersey. Germany's Harutyunan boasts a record twelve and one, having tasted defeat for the first time in his last fight, where he was decisioned by Frank Martin. In other words, Harutyunyan is not a tomato can. The thirty-three-year-old chooses her shots well and is powerful despite the fact that her record of only seven victories does not show much.
Of course, a loss to Harutyunyan would be a disaster for Stevenson at this point in his career. A surprise win, however, will help make the multi-division title list more difficult for other top fighters to avoid. It's time for a man to play a bigger role. With both Lopez and Lomachenko fighting under the Top Rank banner, that big matchup could be closer than it seems.
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