Last Saturday Shakur Stevenson easily defended his WBC lightweight championship against Artem Harutyunyan. Unfortunately for the champion, he didn’t put on the performance that he was hoping as the crowd started boo him multiple times throughout the fight. Despite the lackluster performance, Stevenson is still on of the best in the world at 135. Now he finds himself in a unfamiliar position which is a free agent.
The 2016 silver medalist from the Olympic games in Rio signed to Bob Arums Top Rank boxing at the age of 19. All Stevenson knows as a pro is fighting under the Top Rank umbrella but now he’s looking to try to take his career more so in his own hands as he informed Arum that he would let his contract expire and explore free agency.
What’s next?
Stevenson turned down a five-fight extension with Top Rank, that would have guaranteed the boxer $3 million per bout. “I want to honestly start my own promotional company and just work with promoters and do a lot of short-term things so that way I’m not locked in and stuck to somebody,” Stevenson said leading up to the fight.
Shakur Stevenson has tons of options. He could sign with rival promotions such as PBC, Mayweather promotions, Golden Boy, Matchroom just to name a few. Stevenson is one of the most sought after free agents in boxing. So he’ll have some flexibility in choosing a new partnership. You can’t shut the door on a reunion with Top Rank. But clearly Shakur was not happy with how his last fight was promoted.
“It just feels like they want me to promote the fight and do the things that do the job that they’re supposed to be doing,” Stevenson said. “… It just feels like I’m just not part of the promotion team no more. … I just wish at the end of my contract that we got going on that it would’ve been better than this.
Welcome to Dice City Sports — where we provide premium, exclusive, up-to-date news and analysis surrounding the Las Vegas sports scene. Follow along on social media, and check back for new articles daily!
Robert LaMar is a writer for Dice City Sports. You can follow him on X via @RobertLaMar26
