By Adam Baskin: Shakur Stevenson has three excellent options in case #1 ranked Vasily Lomachenko choose to reject the contest for the vacant WBC lightweight title that was stripped from undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney.
The next three options in the WBC’s rankings for Shakur to fight: Isaac Cruz, William Zepeda & Frank Martin.
It would make things easier if the former three-division world champion Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs) did agree to the fight with Stevenson because it would save the World Boxing Council the time & trouble to ask the top 15 contenders one by one if they’d be interested in fighting the talented Newark, New Jersey native for the vacant 135-lb belt.
Shakur is one of those types of fighters that will be avoided for many years until he becomes the next money-man in the sport. Once Shakur is a massive PPV attraction, guys will jump at the chance to fight him, wanting to make life-changing money.
For the time being, Shakur has these strikes against him: 1.) Counter-puncher. 2.) Southpaw. 3.) Impossible to hit. 4.) Not hugely popular
Yo champ @VasylLomachenko let’s make the highest skill level fight happen, I want to give true boxing fans a spectacular night of boxing at the highest level 💰 pic.twitter.com/5B0ZKlALKi
— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) August 2, 2023
If Lomachenko opts to face IBF mandatory George Kambosos Jr. in a lucrative stadium fight in Australia, #2 Shakur (20-0, 10 KOs) will fight one of these fighters for the vacant WBC lightweight belt:
3. Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz
4. William Zepeda
5. Frank Martin
6. Edwin De Los Santos
7. Jamaine Ortiz
There isn’t much hope for ‘Pitbull’ Cruz (25-2-1, 17 KOs) agreeing to a fight with Stevenson because he’s already reportedly turned down a contest with him in the past.
The 25-year-old Cruz looked awful last Saturday night, barely defeating fringe contender Giovanni Cabrera by a twelve round split decision in Las Vegas. That was a small step up in competition for Pitbull, and he still almost lost, showing that he’d be easy work for Shakur.
The unbeaten Golden Boy-promoted #4 William Zepeda is also unlikely to take the fight with Shakur as well. According to Stevenson, Zepeda has never shown interest in fighting him, so it’s reasonable to assume he’ll turn down the fight as swell.
#5 Frank Martin’s recent life & death struggle last month to defeat Artem Harutyunyan likely means that he too will reject a fight with Shakur Stevenson because that match-up showed that he’s too flawed to fight against better competition.
If Harutyunyan didn’t gas out in that fight, the 28-year-old Martin loses that fight, and his career is in the dumpster.
#6 Edwin De Los Santos (16-1, 14 KO) could be the one that ultimately accepts the fight with Stevenson because this might be his only chance of getting a big fight before his career hits the skids. He was upset last year by little-known Charles Foster III, and didn’t avenge the defeat.