By Chris Williams: Shakur Stevenson (13-0, 7 KOs) will be defending his WBO featherweight title against Rafael Rivera (27-4-2m 18 KOs) on June 9 in Las Vegas, Nevada on ESPN. According to @MikeCoppinger, the Stevenson vs. Rivera fight is being finalized for a behind-closed-doors contest.
As long as this fight is on regular ESPN rather than ESPN+, the fans won’t grumble too much. People would prefer to see Stevenson defend against a talented 126-pound contender like Jessie Magdaleno or Carl Frampton.
Stevenson can do better than Rivera
If Rivera is all Top Rank Boxing promoter Bob Arum can get for WBO featherweight champion Stevenson to fight, then you can give him a free pass.
Hopefully, this isn’t a fight that Arum is making to showcase the 2016 U.S Olympian Stevenson’s skills to make him look great against an over-matched fighter that doesn’t belong inside the same ring as him.
It makes a lot of sense for the Stevenson-Rivera fight to be without fans because the 26-year-old Rivera has lost four out of his last six fights since 2017, and he’s not ranked in the top 15 by any of the four sanctioning bodies at 126.
The real question is, will the World Boxing Organization sanction Stevenson’s match with Rivera. Champions are supposed to defend against top 15 ranked contenders, and Rivera doesn’t meet that requirement.
There’s nothing wrong with Stevenson facing Rivera in a non-title fight to use him as a tune-up level opponent, but he’s done NOTHING to rate a world title shot.
What looks bad is the fact that Rivera is coming off of a ninth-round technical decision defeat to Jessie Magdaleno last August. Although there have been plenty of fighters that have been given a title shot off the back of a loss, it still sends a bad message.
Top contenders being passed over
If you’re one of the top 15 contenders in the WBO’s rankings at 126, you’re probably not too happy at hearing the news of Rivera getting a title shot.
Rivera’s losses:
- Jessie Magdaleno – 9 TD
- Leo Santa Cruz – UD 12
- Joet Gonzalez – SD 10
- Joseph Diaz Jr. – UD 12
What looks weird is that Rivera lost to Stevenson’s last victim Joet Gonzalez. When you see stuff like that, it’s a red flag, telling you what’s in store for boxing fans for the Stevenson-Rivera fight.
You hate to say it, but Stevenson might as well give Gonzalez a rematch rather than take a stay busy fight against Rivera, who has 2-4 record in his last six fights.
Shakur moving up to 130 soon
Stevenson, 22, says he’s going to move up to super-featherweight [130] after the quarantine ends. If that’s the case, then his fight against Rivera will be his last at 126. I know a lot of boxing fans were interested in seeing Stevenson and former two-division world champion Carl Frampton mix it up.
With Stevenson’s talent, he’ll do well at 130 against the top guys in that division. As long as Top Rank is willing to match Stevenson against the best, he’ll have a lot of great options for him. Of course, if they choose to continue to match Shakur against soft guys we’ve been seeing, then he’ll be invisible at 130 like he was at 126.
Stevenson will have these options at 130
- Vasily Lomachenko
- Miguel Berchelt
- Jamel Herring
- Oscar Valdez
- Joseph Diaz
- Leo Santa Cruz
- Chris Colbert
- Miguel ‘Mickey’ Roman
Stevenson vs. Frampton can’t be staged behind closed doors due to the loss of the gate. Frampton is a massive star in Ireland, and there would be too much money that would be left on the table if they put that one without fans.
In moving up in weight to 130, Stevenson can get an immediate title shot WBO super-featherweight champion, Jamel Herring. The WBO will give Stevenson a #1 ranking at 130, and it’ll be an easy match for Top Rank to put together, given that both fighters share the same promoter.
