On the night time of July sixth on the Prudential Middle in Newark, New Jersey, WBC light-weight champion Shakur Stevenson efficiently defended his title as he beat Artem Harutyunyan (12-2, 7 KOs) by unanimous determination.
Stevenson did what many anticipated him to, successful by a large margin on the scorecards. Regardless of his ease in successful the bout, the boxing neighborhood criticized him as a result of they didn’t admire his efficiency.
In April 2023, Shakur Stevenson, a two-weight world champion, made his debut within the light-weight division. His first battle in his new weight class was profitable, as Stevenson posted a sixth-round TKO victory over Shuichiro Yoshino.
Shakur Stevenson had bother staying busy as a result of Vasiliy Lomachenko, George Kambosos Jr, Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz, and Frank Martin turned down the chance to face Stevenson contained in the ring.
Resulting from different contenders routinely turning down the chance to battle Stevenson, battle followers gave him the boogeyman label. Lastly, Stevenson would have an opponent to compete towards when Edwin De Los Santos stepped as much as the problem.
On November 16, 2023, Shakur Stevenson stepped contained in the squared circle to battle Edwin De Los Santos for the vacant WBC world light-weight title. It was a uninteresting battle as Stevenson hesitated to interact, and De Los Santos had bother slicing off the ring.
After the 12-round contest, Shakur Stevenson received the battle by way of unanimous determination. Throughout his post-fight interview, a annoyed De Los Santos spoke on how he got here to battle, however Stevenson got here for a monitor meet.
The Stevenson-De Los Santos matchup obtained heavy criticism, and lots of within the boxing neighborhood blamed Stevenson for the battle being boring. Stevenson admitted he had a nasty efficiency, and his promoter, Bob Arum, revealed that Shakur fought with a shoulder harm.
Shakur Stevenson would have an opportunity to redeem himself on the night time of July sixth when he made his first title protection towards Artem Harutyunyan. Within the opening spherical, Stevenson and Harutyunyan went by means of the feeling-out course of.
Within the second spherical, there wasn’t a lot motion contained in the ring as Harutyunyan pressed ahead and tried to be aggressive, however he couldn’t land something vital. The restricted motion continued within the third spherical because the followers began booing.
Shakur picked up the tempo as he had a string of rounds by which he routinely landed sharp single photographs and some two-punch mixtures. Throughout rounds 6 by means of 9, Stevenson had a window to go for the knockout, however as an alternative of being extra aggressive, he was glad with simply successful the rounds.
Within the eleventh spherical, a few of Shakur’s hometown followers began booing whereas others left the sector. Stevenson was conservative on offense within the twelfth as he received the spherical and went on to win the battle by the use of unanimous determination. Shakur acquired the victory, however he did not make that proverbial assertion.
Shakur Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) is a extremely expert ring technician with all of the instruments, however sadly, his lack of partaking and an absence of a killer intuition are why he’s being tagged as a boring fighter.
Shakur Stevenson’s fights are categorised as boring as a result of he’s ranges above his competitors, and it’s straightforward for him to make the most of the hit-but-don’t-get-hit technique. Shakur might be concerned in entertaining fights sooner or later when he faces an opponent who’s on his degree.
When Shakur Stevenson faces an opponent with the identical ring IQ and ability degree, he may have no selection however to battle. It’s a assure that Shakur might be in a extremely entertaining battle the night time he faces both Vasiliy Lomachenko or Gervonta “Tank” Davis.
