Shakur Stevenson fights this Saturday night, July 6th, against Artem Harutyunyan in a crucial contest. He must perform entertainingly to help land a lucrative deal as a free agent.
The WBC lightweight champion Shakur (21-0, 10 KOs) Headlines against Harutyunyan (13-1, 7 KOs), a fighter coming off a loss, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
The Free Agency Factor
Shakur feels he’s the best fighter in the 135-lb division, but his idea of being the best is in terms of his defensive ability rather than entertainment. It’s all about not getting hit, avoiding contact at all times, and paying tag with his opponents. That’s not what fans view as entertainment in this era of the sport.
This fight is Shakur’s last on his current contract with Top Rank, so it’s important that he looks sensational to help his chances of getting a great deal on his next contract.
Whichever promoter signs Shakur, they’ll need to consider whether he’ll turn a profit if his popularity fails to take off and he fails to bring in ratings or sell tickets.
If Shakur focuses on fighting only in his hometown of Newark, but if he’s going to be headlining in Las Vegas or New York, he may have problems unless his promoter can get him fights against these popular fighters:
– Gervonta Davis
– Vasily Lomachenko
– Ryan Garcia
– Devin Haney
– Teofimo Lopez
It doesn’t look likely that any of those fighters will agree to fight Shakur if he turns in another performance like last November against Edwin De Los Santos. That was one of Shakur’s worst performances since his amateur days, and it came at a bad time for his career, with his contract with Top Rank nearing the end.
It’s unclear if Harutyunyan, 33, was the best Top Rank could find for Shakur, but whatever the reason, this is not the right opponent for the defensive artist to face heading into free agency.
The idea of putting Shakur in with a non-puncher with little power was likely to ensure that he didn’t make it dull by running around the ring the way he’d done against the punchers De Los Santos, Oscar Valdez, Jeremiah Nakathilia, and Joet Gonzalez. Harutyunyan doesn’t possess the power for Shakur to fear standing in the pocket and exchanging shots without his usual three-step pull-back style.
Undercard Fights
On Saturday’s Stevenson-Harutyunyan undercard on ESPN, there are these two excellent fights:
– O’Shaquie Foster v Robson Conceicao
– Keyshawn Davis v Miguel Madueno
Read the full article here
