WBC light-weight champion Shakur Stevenson wasn’t taking any duty for his struggle towards challenger Artem Harutyunyan, failing to impress followers the way in which he had hoped on the Prudential Heart in Newark, New Jersey.
(Courtesy: Mikey Williams/High Rank)
Shakur Expresses Frustration with Opponent’s Ways
After the struggle, Shakur shifted all of the blame on Hartutyunyan (13-2, 7 KOs), saying he was working from him and simply attempting to outlive. The scores have been 119-109, 118-110, and 116-112.
Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) seemed like he was too apprehensive about getting caught, which is why he didn’t go on the assault. Harutyunyan hit him with strong punches when he was attacking, exposing his lack of protection in assault mode.
Harutyunyan used motion within the second half of the struggle as a result of he was drained and didn’t have the vitality to face and struggle Shakur the way in which a youthful fighter would.
For instance, if this had been 20-year-old Abdullah Mason Shakur preventing, he wouldn’t have needed to fear about him gassing out and working. Harutyunyan had already confirmed in his earlier struggle towards Frank Martin that he’s solely a six-round fighter, and has nothing left within the second half of his fights.
“He did precisely what I mentioned he was going to do. I used to be attempting to chop him off, however the dude was simply attempting to outlive,” mentioned Shakur Stevenson on the post-fight press convention, blaming his opponent Artem Harutyunyan for his failure to impress tonight.
“He was harder than I anticipated him to be. He would struggle again and simply perform a little bit to maintain me from getting a stoppage,” mentioned Shakur.
He couldn’t cease Harutyunyan, even when he had stood and fought him slightly than shifting as a result of his energy wasn’t there.
“If I can’t get these fights, I’m cool with it. I’m completely happy and making hundreds of thousands of {dollars}. My household is nice,” mentioned Shakur about his angle if he fails to get the fights he desires towards Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and Vasily Lomachenko. “I can’t power these fights to occur if these guys don’t wish to struggle me.”
After tonight, Shakur’s possibilities of getting fights towards Tank and Lomachenko could have dropped much more than it already was.
“Within the first three or 4 rounds, I used to be attempting to get adjusted,” mentioned Shakur about his opponent Harutyunyan. “He’s not like a traditional fighter. He was bouncing. So, he would give a bit feint after which throw some punches.
“Then I used to be like, ‘Okay, I’m getting a bit adjusted,’ however then after a short while, I used to be like, ‘Let me decide it up and begin stepping to this dude. I began stepping to him. He’s an okay fighter. He is aware of the right way to survive.”
Harutyunyan out-fought Shakur in at the very least two of the ultimate six rounds of the bout. He wasn’t working. He was shifting, stopping and throwing photographs.
“These guys come to outlive, and their goal is to ensure they make it twelve rounds. I did what I might [to entertain fans]. I let my palms go at instances and put some punishment on him at instances. That dude was simply ensuring he stayed on his toes,” mentioned Shakur about Harutyunyan.
