Shakur Stevenson should look good tonight in his struggle in opposition to Artem Harutyunyan for a lot of causes, beginning together with his looming free company.
(Credit score: Mikey Williams/High Rank)
Free Company and the Quest for a Profitable Deal
Shakur (21-0, 10 KOs), the WBC light-weight champion, desires to be supplied a terrific cope with a serious promoter, like Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom, however he gained’t get the supply he desires if he fails to impress.
Harutyunyan (13-1, 7 KOs) might make issues troublesome for Shakur to win and look as a result of he gained’t knock him out with out standing in entrance of him.
Concentrating on Harutyunyan’s Weak spot
Shakur indicated on the weigh-in on Friday that he’s going to focus on Harutyunyan’s midsection, which is an space the place Frank Martin discovered his biggest success final 12 months of their conflict in July 2023.
Stevenson additionally desires a unification struggle in opposition to WBA light-weight champion Gervonta Davis as a result of he feels that struggle is winnable and can flip him right into a PPV star.
If Shakur, 27, will get that struggle, he may win, however provided that he fights in the identical hit-and-run supervisor he did in opposition to Edwin De Los Santos.
Davis Battle Unlikely Subsequent
“That’s the struggle [Gervonta Davis vs. Shakur Stevenson] that all of us need, however you bought to deal with the man in entrance of him. It’s not about profitable. Yeah, all of us assume he’s going to win this struggle,” mentioned boxing knowledgeable Chris Algieri to Probox TV about Shakur Stevenson’s struggle tonight in opposition to Artem Harutyunyan.
Shakur isn’t going to get a struggle in opposition to Tank Davis subsequent, irrespective of how good he appears to be like tonight. Tank’s administration desires the unification struggle in opposition to IBF champion Vasily Lomachenko in November.
If Tank wins that struggle, there’s a chance of a rematch with Lomachenko after which a second struggle with Ryan Garcia. A rematch between these two could be far larger than one involving Shakur, who’s nowhere close to as standard as Ryan.
Shakur may need to attend till 2026 on the earliest for an opportunity to struggle Tank Davis, however that’s assuming he isn’t crushed by one of many contenders like William Zepeda, Raymond Muratalla, or Abdullah Mason.
Want for a Assertion Victory
If Edwin De Los Santos got here near beating Shakur, these guys would have a fair better probability.
“Wanting good issues. It’s not about profitable or dropping. It’s how good he can look. Artem was saying [at the weigh-in]. ‘Everyone desires you to lose,’ and Shakur was like, ‘I do know, however I’m coming for you. It’s not going to occur.’ He [Shakur] goes, ‘I’m going proper there [Harutyunyan’s body]. I hope you probably did your situps.’
“I believe Shakur goes to go on the market and attempt to get Artem out of there. I believe that may be a extremely large assertion if he’s capable of cease him, whereas Frank Martin didn’t. Frank Martin truly struggled with Artem late,” mentioned Algieri.
Shakur virtually has to attempt to knock Harutyunyan out to indicate followers that his final poor efficiency was only a fluke factor. Once more, Stevenson must impress to get an enormous supply from one of many different promoters.
Restricted Choices with Matchroom
I’m undecided that Matchroom will assist Shakur obtain his finish objective of getting the Tank Davis as a result of they haven’t any management over him. All they will do is supply him a struggle in opposition to Andy Cruz at light-weight, which might be a tough struggle for him and the 140-pounders they’ve. None of them are standard.
If Shakur indicators with Matchroom, he could possibly be restricted to those fighters: Liam Paro, Andy Cruz, Richardson Hitchins, Regis Prograis, Jack Catterall and Subriel Matias.
“He’s a troublesome man. He’s the kind of man stylistically that may actually make Shakur look good. I believe Shakur ought to take this chance to make a press release with the remainder of the lightweights as a result of he’s able proper now the place that large struggle, that mega-fight, that end-goal sort with Tank Davis is inside attain,” mentioned Algieri.
I don’t assume Harutyunyan could make Shakur look good. He regarded good in opposition to sluggish fighters or ones with out energy. Harutyunyan has sufficient pace and energy to maintain Shakur from dominating him like he did in his first struggle at 135 in opposition to Shuichiro Yoshino.
He didn’t look good in opposition to De Los Santos, Robson Conceicao, Oscar Valdez, and Jeremiah Nakathilia. Followers discovered these fights boring, and Shakur spent a lot of the time on the run.
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