Shakur Stevenson will end his existing contract with Top Rank when he takes on Artem Harutyunyan on July 6th at the Prudential Center in Newark.
WBC lightweight champion Gifted Stevenson is one of the best talents in the sport, although he didn't have a spectacular performance against a reluctant Edwin de los Santos in Las Vegas in November. He has a record of 21 wins and 0 losses (10 KOs).
Harutyunyan, an Armenian based in Germany, is 12-1 (7 KOs), won bronze with Germany at the 2016 Olympics, and lost a narrow decision to Frank Martin last July.
“This is Shakur's last fight under our contract,” Top Rank's Carl Moretti said. See what's available elsewhere. ”
Stevenson was a key attraction for Newark, and despite negotiations with other opponents, including a brief stint with William Zepeda, WBC number six Harutyunyan acquired the voice.
“When you go down the rankings and see who can actually fight, there's not a whole lot left. Knowing Artem's amateur background and his fight with Frank Martin, he's been around for a while. Asked if there had been any negotiations with Golden Boy's Zepeda, Moretti said, “Yes. And when we actually talked about it on the phone, he said yes.'' '' he said. , they didn't go far.
Stevenson's two previous fights before De Los Santos in Las Vegas were both held at the Prudential Center, where he defeated Robson Conceição and Shuichiro Yoshino, so it made sense to bring him back there.
“The fact that he's from Newark makes sense. The Fourth of July is an American holiday.”th “Las Vegas wasn't going to be available because it was the weekend, and if you go through arenas that actually make sense, Newark would be at the top of the list,” Moretti said.
Is Coach Moretti confident that Stevenson will regroup in Top Rank after Harutyunyan?
“I don't know if he's going to stay, I don't know if he's going to stay,'' Coach Moretti said. “The only thing I have confidence in is that he has the right to go and explore what his other options are and then the team will make a decision.”