By: Sean Crose
Gervonta Davis. Vasyl Lomachenko. Devin Haney. Teofimo Lopez. These men are all in the general weight realm of WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson. With a record of twenty-one wins against zero losses, the twenty-seven year old Stevenson would be a high profile opponent for any of the aforementioned names. Stevenson is more than just an undefeated titlist, after all. He’s regarded as one of the most talented fighters on the planet. Highly skilled and at times enthralling, the product of Newark, New Jersey, is good – very good – perhaps too good for his own good.
Stevenson, after all, has been accused of being a boring fighter. Yet, even though he’s not a knockout artist, it was the man’s last fight – a twelve round snooze fest against Edwin De Los Santos last November – that truly raised eyebrows. While there was no doubt Stevenson masterfully bested De Los Santos that night, the question of why Stevenson didn’t step it up and stop De Los Santos within the distance, or at least look truly engaged, started making the rounds. Stevenson himself admitted he was unhappy with his performance. Boxing, being a business at least as much as it is a sport, doesn’t smile on fighters who don’t generate some kind of excitement either in or out of the ring. Stevenson, more than anyone, knows he has to at the very least entertain in order to earn the kind of fame and challenges he wants.
One way for Stevenson to generate the kind of buzz that draws in eyeballs and accolades is for the Top Rank promoted fighter to impress this weekend when he takes on Artem Harutyunyan Saturday night in his hometown of Newark, New Jersey. Germany’s Harutyunan boasts a record of twelve and one, having only tasted defeat for the first time his last fight, where he was decisioned by Frank Martin. In other words, Harutyunyan is no tomato can. The thirty-three year old picks his shots well and possesses power in spite of the fact his record of having just seven knockout wins doesn’t indicate as much.
Of course, a loss to Harutyunyan would be disastrous for Stevenson at this point in his career. An impressive win, however, will help the multi division titlist be that much harder for other top fighters to avoid. It’s time the man is in a major matchup. With both Lopez and Lomachenko fighting under the Top Rank banner, that major matchup may actually be closer than it seems.