No one who knows boxing would dispute Shakur Stevenson’s talent.
The 27-year-old Newark, NJ native is set for a homecoming fight at the Prudential Center on Saturday night when he defends his WBC lightweight title against Artem Harutyunyan. Stevenson is one of the best fighters in the world, and with all due respect, Harutyunyan is set up to be a showcase opponent for the highly skilled champion.
However, he has yet to secure the fame, promotion, and big-money fights that some of his peers have. While the likes of Gervonta Davis, Devin Haney, and Ryan Garcia have gone on to become household names and superstars in the sport, Stevenson–who might be as good or better than all of them–hasn’t found the same level of commercial success.
That point is part of what makes Saturday’s fight on ESPN so intriguing. Stevenson’s fight with Harutyunyan will be the last one on his Top Rank deal. The WBC lightweight champion is headed to free agency, and he should have a sufficient number of suitors.
If Stevenson is headed to allegiance with another promoter, he has left some parting shots for Top Rank and icon Bob Arum.
“Bob Arum is basically trying to say ‘Top Rank or nothing’ and basically trying to say that I don’t have any other options but Top Rank,” Stevenson said, per Manouk Akopyan of Boxing Scene. “Like, go see the market and come back to us.”
Adding some extra spice to his comments, Stevenson had this to say about the 92-year-old legend.
“I think Bob should just shut up because he’s not really even really running his own company.”
If you follow Stevenson on social media, he often calls out opponents and trades barbs with fighters like Garcia and Davis.
It seems clear Stevenson is in a hurry to prove he belongs in the same conversation with the sport’s current needle-movers in the lower weight classes. Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn recently commented on Stevenson’s career and he was openly critical of Arum’s handling of the fighter’s career.
Stevenson reposted the video and added a bullseye emoji to denote his agreement with the concepts shared.
Even with Stevenson sharing negative words about Arum and Top Rank, he still hasn’t seemingly closed the door on a return to the promotion.
“I don’t count anything out,” Stevenson told Boxing Scene. “It’s business at the end of the day. The same way [Top Rank] looks at it is the same way I look at it. If the business makes sense, then yeah. If the business doesn’t make sense then there is no point. I know my worth and understand it. I am not a kid anymore at 19 years old coming out of the Olympics. I am more so a grown man now that in years to come is going to end up as one of the most legendary and best fighters to ever do it, and that’s my worth.”
Stevenson will probably want an assurance that he’ll get the sort of fight that will elevate him. Stevenson seems to be still smarting over the fact Top Rank set up George Kambosos Jr., a fighter who lost to Haney twice, with a world-title fight against Lomachenko when he had campaigned for a shot at the Ukrainian legend.
“Once I got to 135 pounds everything kind of slowed down,” Stevenson said. “I feel as though [Top Rank] could have given me the Kambosos fight like they gave Lomachenko. But they didn’t do that. I felt that we could have put a little bit more pressure on Lomachenko to make the fight happen but they didn’t do that.”
The combination of Top Rank’s seeming lack of belief in Stevenson as a fighter with star power and Stevenson’s desire to prove the doubters wrong could make Saturday the last time we see him fight under the Top Rank banner.
The stage is set for Stevenson to put on a show for his old and perhaps new promoter.