By Jeff Aronow: Shakur Stevenson will be fighting this summer on June 12th on ESPN during the Puerto Rican Day parade weekend. Mike Coppinger reporting the news of Shakur coming off a six-month layoff.
There’s no word on who Stevenson will fight on June 12th. Given that it’s the Puerto Rican Day weekend in New York, Top Rank must find a quality opponent for Stevenson to fight. It would be excellent to see Shakur take on a top 10 level contender in the division.
Since moving up to the 130-lb division in 2020, Shakur has had it easy, fighting Felix Caraballo and Toka Kahn, Clary.
Fans would like to see Shakur face one of these contenders:
- Joseph Diaz Jr
- Chris Colbert
- Miguel Berchelt
- O’Shaquie Foster
- Tevin Farmer
- Leo Santa Cruz
- Shavkat Rakhimov
The 23-year-old former WBO featherweight champion Shakur (15-0, 8 KOs) is staying sharp before taking on the winner of the April 3rd fight between Jamel Herring and Carl Frampton.
Top Rank wants to have the 2016 Olympic silver medalist Shakur fight the winner of the Herring – Frampton fight for the WBO 130-lb title, but he would gain more attention facing WBC champion Oscar Valdez.
The 35-year-old WBC super featherweight champion Herring (22-2, 10 KOs) and Frampton are viewed as two aging fighters, which Shakur will have no problems beating.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum believes that Stevenson is a future superstar in the making. However, many boxing fans haven’t been too impressed with what they’ve seen of Shakur.
He’s got a lot of talent, but his punching is nonexistent, and his hand speed isn’t great for a finesse fighter.
What a lot of boxing fans don’t like about Stevenson is his focus on not getting his. Shakur seems to go out of his way to avoid getting hit at all, and he’s constantly jumping back to avoid shots.
His focus on defense causes Stevenson’s fight to lack drama because it’s all one-way traffic, and that’s boring to watch. There have been defensive fighters who were interesting to watch, like Pernell Whitaker, but Shakur isn’t as interesting.
Since turning pro in 2017, he’s picked up wins over Christopher Diaz, Joet Gonzalez, Alberto Guevara, as well as the aforementioned Clary and Caraballo.
“Sources: Shakur Stevenson slated to return June 12 on ESPN in New York on Puerto Rican Day Parade Weekend. The rising star has been demanding a tough challenge so hopefully Top Rank delivers for him as he chases a title at 130 pounds,” said Mike Coppinger.