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Stevenson Close To Sealing A Fight Deal With Harutyunyan; Fans Not Convinced – ‘Fighting Taxi Drivers’

Shakur Stevenson is reportedly close to agreeing on a deal to face Artem Harutyunyan on July 6 in Newark, New Jersey.

Stevenson recently reversed his retirement following his poor showing against Edwin De Los Santos. Despite winning the WBC Lightweight Title, his style of boxing was criticized. Shakur was reluctant to engage, fighting off his jab to win a unanimous decision.

De Los Santos’ failure to cut the ring off did not help the spectacle. Stevenson later revealed that he had injured his hand coming into the fight. There has been plenty of speculation over who he could face. After stopping Maxi Hughes, William Zepeda called out the WBC Lightweight Champion.

“That was what we worked on throughout this camp. It’s no secret, just an old-school approach. We target the body and work our way up to the head. We were very pleased with the results tonight. In a perfect world, I want Shakur next.

“I’m ready to answer that call. We’re going to sit down as a team and discuss what’s next for me. But I really feel out of all the champions out there, my style and Shakur’s match up the best. He needs an opponent and July is perfect timing for me to return,” Zepeda said

Oscar De La Hoya questioned Stevenson’s skills and doubted whether he would take the fight. Shakur responded, as both men had a verbal exchange. 

Shakur vs Zepeda

Shakur Moves On

Shakur also turned his attention towards facing Ryan Garcia if the latter pulled out of his fight with Devin Haney. The two boxers will face off on April 20 as Haney defends his WBC Junior Welterweight Title. There have been concerns that Garcia’s mental health may see him withdraw from the fight.

He has spoken about drinking alcohol and smoking weed, all of which will hamper his preparation. He has also been heavily posting on social media over topics such as human trafficking as he continues to express his passion for activism. Haney responded by mocking Stevenson for even suggesting the idea of stepping in.

“Shakur, he say a lot but he don’t fight nobody. We don’t see him fight nobody, we ain’t seen it. He calls everybody’s name out, he was just calling out my name to fight me. This was the day before yesterday and then today seen he’s fighting June — whatever he’s fighting — and he got an opponent already. He’s fighting a guy, Zaur Abdullaev, the guy I already beat. So he going backwards,” Haney said 

Those fights did not get made, leaving Stevenson with Harutyunyan. Harutyunyan lost to Frank Martin, who took a knee in the final round to lose a unanimous decision. Shakur must face top-level competition for a three-division champion looking for the biggest fights. 

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This article first appeared on BoxingNews.com and was syndicated with permission.

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