WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson is expected to look good against Artem Harutyunyan tonight in the main event on ESPN at the Prudential Center in Newark.
(Credit: Mikey Williams/Top Rank)
A Calculated Matchup
Top Rank has given Shakur (21-0, 10 KOs) the ideal opponent. He will look good against Harutyunyan, who is suited to Stevenson in every way.
– No power
– Lost his last fight
– Inactive for one year
– Not young
It’s believed that the only reason Top Rank picked Harutyunyan for Shakur is to motivate him to re-sign because his contract ends tonight with this fight.
Shakur isn’t expected to re-up with Top Rank, which means they made this fight for nothing; they’d have been better off matching Shakur tough against one of the killers at 135, like Andy Cruz or Raymond Muratalla, because at least it would bring in good ratings.
Porter’s Prediction: Easy Win for Shakur
“I think it’s time. I know that Shakur is going to look past this guy [Artem Harutyunyan]. He has everything it takes to beat Artem, and I expect him to, and I expect him to look good in doing it because this guy has the right kind of style that makes Shakur look good,” said Shawn Porter to Probox TV about tonight’s fight between Shakur Stevenson and Artem Harutyunyan.
Shakur will dominate Harutyunyan as he did Oscar Valdez and Shuichiro Yoshino. It’ll make him look good, which he wouldn’t have done if Top Rank had been tough by putting him back in with Edwin De Los Santos for a rematch.
That’s the fight Shakur should be taking because he looked awful against him last November and arguably lost the fight. If De Los Santos had been popular, the judges would likely have given him the decision because he had landed the better shots during the entire fight.
The Perfect Time for a Super Fight
“After that, I think Shakur will say, ‘If it ain’t Tank, I don’t want anything out there.’ Whether that happens, we’ll see, but I think it’s next for him,” said Porter, believing that Shakur will get a fight against Gervonta Davis next.
Tank Davis is the next fight Shakur wants, but realistically, it’s not going to happen. If you watched Tank angrily brush off the media when asked about him fighting Shakur, it’s obvious that he’s not interested in that fight. Fans who want to see that fight will have to wait longer.
“That should be the goal for anybody in any weight class. You want to take on the best,” said boxing expert Paulie Malignaggi about Tank Davis being Shakur’s end goal. “All these other guys have not been chasing Shakur Stevenson, who is the biggest threat in the weight class.”
I think Shakur to get the Tank Davis fight, he’s got to prove that he’s turned over a new leaf and changed his fighting style from being defensive-oriented to standing in the pocket.
Tank isn’t going to want to chase Shakur around the ring in a game of tag for twelve rounds. That style is a cancer for the eyes, and Tank doesn’t want to fight a guy who doesn’t engage.
“I would love to see that fight. I think the time for it [Shakur vs. Tank] is right now. It’s marinated perfectly right now,” said Malignaggi. “They’re at their best right now. I hope that we get to see it soon. I don’t mind Shakur mentioning Davis’ name.”
Of course, Malignaggi wants to see Tank vs. Shakur because Stevenson fights like he did. Boxing fans would rather see Tank fight entertaining fighters like Vasily Lomachenko, William Zepeda, and Abdullah Mason.
“He [Tank] doesn’t mention Shakur Stevenson at all. I’d love for Shakur and Davis to fight. That’s the really the one to make for the weight, but we’ll see if they’re going to do it,” said Malignaggi.
