Shakur Stevenson defeats Harutyunyan, keeps WBC lightweight title
Shakur Stevenson made his first defense of the WBC lightweight title and beat Artem Harutyunyan in the main event of Top Rank’s card from Newark, New Jersey by a unanimous decision.
But this may not have been the story of the night.
The big story came in the co-main fight where Robson Conceicao shocked O’Shaquie Foster to win the WBC junior lightweight title. This was a shocker as Conceicao landed just 11 percent of his punches. Foster outpunched him 109-76.
Stevenson is a three-division world champion, having held titles at featherweight and junior lightweight before moving up to 135 pounds in April. Stevenson became a lightweight champion last November when outpointed Edwin De Los Santos in a historically sluggish affair to claim the vacant WBC belt.
Here are our live updates throughout the Shakur Stevenson vs. Artem Harutyunyan fight card.
Fans formed a long line, walking out of the fight. They had seen enough. Boos are back. The hometown Stevenson isn’t impressing his fans tonight. He just outlasted Harutyunyan. Stevenson wins by unanimous decision and improves to 22-0 to retain his WBC lightweight title. Harutyunan falls to 12-2.
Shakur Stevenson vs. Artem Harutyunyan fight: Round 11
More boos. What we’ve seen here are back-to-back fights of boxers known for their defense. Stevenson isn’t winning people over with his power. He is just wearing out Harutyunyan with body and avoiding punches.
Shakur Stevenson vs. Artem Harutyunyan fight: Round 10
Stevenson wanted to stop this fight early. But Harutyunyan isn’t going away. This will go the distance barring something weird happening. Harutyunyan knows he won’t win by points, so he has to become the aggressor for the last two rounds.
Shakur Stevenson vs. Artem Harutyunyan fight: Round 9
Stevenson was the aggressor the first two minutes of the round, hitting different combinations. He even appeared to be on the verge of finishing off the fight. But Harutyunayan closed out the round, hitting Stevenson with multiple combinations.
Shakur Stevenson vs. Artem Harutyunyan fight: Round 8
Stevenson has loads of energy. He dances back to his ring after the bell. Much of what we’ve seen the first several rounds. Stevenson is working the body. But Harutyunyan isn’t breaking down.
Shakur Stevenson vs. Artem Harutyunyan fight: Round 7
Stevenson continues to wear down Harutyunyan with body blows. But Harutyunyan isn’t completely slowing down. He’s countering. This isn’t going to be a knockout unless something changes quickly.
Shakur Stevenson vs. Artem Harutyunyan fight: Round 6
Stevenson had perhaps his best round of the night. He’s starting to wear out Harutyunyan with his body shots. He’s wearing him out with those body shots.
Shakur Stevenson vs. Artem Harutyunyan fight: Round 5
Stevenson isn’t backing up the way he did the first two rounds. He’s becoming more of the aggressor. But Harutyunan isn’t going away quietly. This looks like it will go the distance. Stevenson landed 21 of his punches to eight by Harutyunyan.
Shakur Stevenson vs. Artem Harutyunyan fight: Round 4
Stevenson is heating up and becoming a little more aggressive. Harutyunyan is working on Stevenson’s body. But Stevenson is starting to work Harutyunyan now after a quiet first three rounds. Stevenson has likely won three of the first four rounds.
Shakur Stevenson vs. Artem Harutyunyan fight: Round 3
The boos in Stevenson’s hometown of Newark, New Jersey are noticeable as Stevenson is limiting his engagement against Harutyunyan. Stevenson hit two quick jabs that brought some cheers. But Harutyunyan comes back with a counter. Stevenson has landed more punches 19-10 through three rounds.
Shakur Stevenson vs. Artem Harutyunyan fight: Round 2
Another slow start in the second round. Right now, neither boxer is landing much of an attack on the other. Stevenson, as the champion, seems to be backing up while Harutyunyan is taking the fight to him. He just isn’t landing many punches. However, the previous fight showed that may not be important.
Shakur Stevenson vs. Artem Harutyunyan fight: Round 1
After a controversial co-main event where Robson Conceicao became the new WBC junior lightweight title despite landing just 11 percent of his punches, Shakur Stevenson came out cautious in the opening round vs. Harutyunyan. Harutyunyan didn’t land many punches, but was the aggressor.
O’Shaquie Foster vs. Robson Conceicao: Round 12
Conceicao, a former Olympic gold medalist, shocks the crowd. He pulls out a split decision to win the WBC junior lightweight title. This is a definite shocker. Conceicao improves to 19-2-1. Foster falls to 23-3. Foster lost despite Conceicao landing just 11 percent of his punches. Foster landed 109-76 more punches.
“I want this rematch. They stole this fight from me,” Foster said in a post fight interview.
O’Shaquie Foster vs. Robson Conceicao: Round 11
Foster has this fight wrapped up and it shows. He remains on the defensive. He’s content just using his feet to avoid Conceicao’s attempted offense.
O’Shaquie Foster vs. Robson Conceicao: Round 10
Conceicao comes out with intensity. Lands some strong body shots. But Foster then counters. But Conceicao has been the aggressor. Right now Foster leads punches landed 91-58.
O’Shaquie Foster vs. Robson Conceicao: Round 9
Foster is pulling away. Conceicao needs to start thinking knockout. Conceicao has a couple good combinations. But Foster has a counter.
O’Shaquie Foster vs. Robson Conceicao: Round 8
Conceicao has a good combination. He’s pressing more, but Foster continues to elude him. So far Foster is running away with this fight. Foster has won seven of eight rounds.
O’Shaquie Foster vs. Robson Conceicao: Round 7
Foster remains on the defensive. He’s landing a few shots afterward, but not many. The problem for Conceicao is Foster’s speed has kept him from landing anything serious. Foster has a 58-39 punch advantage. Neither is connecting much.
O’Shaquie Foster vs. Robson Conceicao: Round 6
Foster is on the defensive, taking his shots after Conceicao combinations. Conceicao has a nice body combination late in the sixth round.
O’Shaquie Foster vs. Robson Conceicao: Round 5
Conceicao is going to have to turn it up soon on Foster. Foster is methodical, slowly working on Conceicao. Fans are a little restless, wanting some more excitement.
O’Shaquie Foster vs. Robson Conceicao: Round 4
Conceicao is landing just nine percent of his punches. Foster has won each round so far.
Foster’s quickness is bothering Conceicao, who can’t connect enough on Foster due to that quick feet.
O’Shaquie Foster vs. Robson Conceicao: Round 2
Foster lands a couple combinations, but Conceicao has a good counter. Like the first round, right now both boxers are patiently waiting for their opportunities.
O’Shaquie Foster vs. Robson Conceicao: Round 1
It was a slow round to start Foster’s defense of the WBC junior lightweight title. Both worked slowly, taking opportunities when given.
Keyshawn Davis vs. Miguel Madueno: Round 10
Davis dominated the fight, landing shot after shot to improve to 11-0. Madueno suffers his third defeat and is now 31-3. Davis even displays some showmanship, acting like he’s a matador. The two hug after. Davis landed 122 punches. He wins by a unanimous decision.
Keyshawn Davis vs. Miguel Madueno: Round 9
Huge ending to the ninth round with Davis landing some big blows. Madueno slowed. But he refuses to be knocked downs.
Keyshawn Davis vs. Miguel Madueno: Round 8
OK, things have calmed down. We’re late in the fight. Davis still landing plenty on Madueno. But Davis is starting to grab and hold on more. He’s landed so many punches he’s getting fatigued.
Keyshawn Davis vs. Miguel Madueno: Round 7
Things have gotten crazy. Madueno accidently hit the ref after the bell after the two boxers exchanged words after the round. Madueno picks up Davis at one point. Davis tags Madueno with a big shot and Madueno motions for more.
Keyshawn Davis vs. Miguel Madueno: Round 6
Davis has landed 93 punches to 40 by Madueno through the first five rounds. That’s paying off for Davis in Round 6.
Keyshawn Davis vs. Miguel Madueno: Round 5
Madueno refuses to be stunned by the onslaught that he’s endured from Davis through the first four rounds. The pace slowed in the fifth round. Davis is able to land some body shots.
Keyshawn Davis vs. Miguel Madueno: Round 4
Davis has dazed Madueno. He’s wearing him out. He hits him with a three-punch combination that forces Madueno to take a step back. But Madueno comes back for more.
Keyshawn Davis vs. Miguel Madueno: Round 3
Davis had a pretty combination early in the third round. But Madueno countered and had Davis against the ropes where he was able to connect a couple combinations. Davis right now has the edge. He’s landing 52 percent of his jabs.
Keyshawn Davis vs. Miguel Madueno: Round 2
Madueno is bringing his offense to Davis. Davis doesn’t look comfortable.
Keyshawn Davis vs. Miguel Madueno: Round 1
Davis got some early shots in on Madueno, who tried to start the fight on the offensive.
Abdullah Mason vs. Luis Lebron: Round 3
Mason shows off another good combination. The fight ends with Lebron in trouble and Lebron’s trainer waiving his white towel. Mason wins by technical knockout, 1:18 into the third round.
Abdullah Mason vs. Luis Lebron: Round 2
Mason has shown a good amount of combinations and upper cups. He has cut Lebron on his nose. Mason is in complete control.
Mason stuns Lebron for a standing count. He stuns him again in the final seconds of the round.
Abdullah Mason vs. Luis Lebron: Round 1
Lebron started slowly, edging up to Mason. Mason showed off good combinations in this lightweight showdown.
How to watch Shakur Stevenson vs Artem Harutyunyan fight?
The Shakur Stevenson vs. Artem Harutyunyan fight in the main event of Top Rank’s card from New Jersey will be broadcasted live on ESPN and ESPN+ on July 6.
- How to watch: ESPN or ESPN+
Shakur Stevenson vs Artem Harutyunyan fight start time, ring walks
Top Rank’s fight card, headlined by Shakur Stevenson vs. Artem Harutyunyan, kicks off at 8 p.m. CT with the main event ring walks expected at approximately 10 p.m. CT.
- Fight card start time: 8 p.m. CT
- Stevenson vs. Harutyunyan ring walks: approx. 10 p.m. CT
Shakur Stevenson vs Artem Harutyunyan fight location
The Shakur Stevenson vs. Artem Harutyunyan fight will take place at the Prudential Center in Stevenson’s hometown of Newark, New Jersey.
This will be Stevenson’s fourth fight at the Prudential Center, and his third fight there in his last four outings. The Prudential Center is home of the New Jersey Devils and Seton Hall basketball.
Shakur Stevenson vs Artem Harutyunyan full fight card
The undercard of Stevenson-Harutyunyan features a 130-pound title showdown between current champion O’Shaquie Foster and Robson Conceicao along with one of Top Rank’s brightest prospects, Keyshawn Davis, returning to the ring.
- Main event: Shakur Stevenson (21-0, 10 KOs) vs. Artem Harutyunyan (12-1, 7 KOs); WBC lightweight title
- Co-main: O’Shaquie Foster (22-2, 12 KOs) vs. Robson Conceicao (18-2-1, 9 KOs); WBC junior lightweight title
- Keyshawn Davis (11-0, 7 KOs) wins by unanimous decision over Miguel Madueno (31-3, 28 KOs)
- Abdullah Mason defeats Luis Lebron by technical knockout in the third round.
Shakur Stevenson vs Artem Harutyunyan fight prediction
This has one-sided written all over it. Stevenson is levels above Harutyunyan and while he looked rather poor in his last outing, that should spur him to come out stronger on Saturday.
It is hard to shake the thought of the De Los Santos bout because it was truly that bad of a fight, but Stevenson remains one of the most talented and tricky fighters in the sport. Defensively, there’s arguably nobody better and Harutyunyan will have his hands full just trying to land on Stevenson.
While Harutyunyan gave Frank Martin a solid test last summer, Stevenson is a far better fighter in almost every way and Harutyunyan is likely to get picked apart, assuming Stevenson is at his best (or even a fraction of it). We see a stoppage in this one as Harutyunyan is unable to hang with Stevenson into the late rounds.
Predictions: Stevenson def. Harutyunyan by TKO-8; Foster def. Conceicao by UD; Davis def. Madueno by UD
Shakur Stevenson vs Artem Harutyunyan fight odds
- Shakur Stevenson to win: -3500
- Artem Harutyunyan to win: +1100
- Over 10.5 rounds: -180
- Under 10.5 rounds: +130
Odds via DraftKings, as of June 29
Shakur Stevenson fight record
Shakur Stevenson is 21-0 with 10 wins by knockout.
Stevenson is a three division world champion and silver medalist at the 2016 Olympic Games. Stevenson won the WBO featherweight title over Joet Gonzalez in 2019, the first world title of his career.
He later became a unified champion at junior lightweight, defeating Jamel Herring and Oscar Valdez in back-to-back fights. He moved to lightweight in 2023 and last November Stevenson won the vacant WBC title, outpointing Edwin De Los Santos in a snooze-fest of a fight.
Stevenson is ranked No. 4 at lightweight by The Ring, while ESPN ranks him No. 3 at lightweight and No. 8 pound-for-pound.
Artem Harutyunyan fight record
Artem Harutyunyan is 12-1 with seven wins by knockout.
Harutyunyan was a bronze medalist for Germany at the 2016 Olympics. He turned pro in 2017 and had never fought outside of his home country until his last fight against Frank Martin, who just lost to Gervonta Davis earlier this month.
Harutyunyan gave Martin a test but ultimately, Martin passed it, winning by unanimous decision in a somewhat sloppy fight, handing Harutyunyan his first loss. Harutyunyan hasn’t fought since that fight nearly 12 months ago.
Harutyunyan is ranked No. 7 at lightweight by the WBC.
Shakur Stevenson stats
Statistically speaking, Shakur Stevenson is one of the best fighters in all of boxing.
Stevenson leads all boxers in plus/minus, which measures how many times you hit an opponent versus get hit by them. Stevenson’s plus/minus is an eye-popping 20.4, the only fighter with a plus/minus above 20.
While Stevenson doesn’t throw a ton of shots, he’s very effective with the punches he does throw, ranking third in boxing for power punch connect percentage, landing 46.8% of his power punches.
Defense is where Stevenson really stands above the rest. His opponents land an average of just 5.2 punches per round on him, the lowest in all of boxing, while connecting on just 13.3% of shots. He gets hit with an average of 3.9 power punches per round and his opponents land only 16.7% of their power punches on him.
Shakur Stevenson vs ‘Tank’ Davis?
Shakur Stevenson has long been linked to a potential fight with Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis. With Stevenson now in the same division as Davis, the cries for a fight between the two have only intensified.
Each hold a lightweight title with Stevenson in possession of the WBC belt and Davis the WBA and it’s not a stretch to call Stevenson and Davis the top two fighters in the division. After Davis’ destructive eighth round knockout of Frank Martin earlier this month, it seems he’s looking for a title unification in his next bout.
While Stevenson represents the most enticing matchup, pitting the one-punch knockout power of Davis against the elite defense of Stevenson, it doesn’t seem likely to come next. Top Rank and Bob Arum are currently in talks with Davis’ team for a unification bout against another, equally talented title holder, Vasiliy Lomachenko.
It seems likely Top Rank will be able to strike a deal with Davis’ team for that bout, which could potentially set up an even bigger unification bout between Stevenson and the winner.
More:Gervonta Davis vs Frank Martin fight: Who won, fight analysis and what’s next
Shakur Stevenson weight
Shakur Stevenson fights in the lightweight division, which has a maximum weight limit of 135-pounds.
Stevenson started his career at featherweight (126-pounds) and won a title there in 2019 before moving up to the junior lightweight division (130-pounds). At junior lightweight, Stevenson established himself as one of the best fighters on the planet, becoming a unified champion before growing too big for the division and once again moving up.
Since coming to the lightweight division in April 2023, Stevenson has won two fights, claiming the vacant WBC title in his last fight over Edwin De Los Santos.
Harrison Campbell covers boxing for The Tennessean and high school sports for The Daily Herald. Email him at hcampbell@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @hccamp.
