Shakur Stevenson returns to the ring on Saturday to defend his WBC lightweight title against Artem Harutyunyan at the Prudential Center in Newark, Recent Jersey (ESPN/ESPN+, 8:30 p.m. ET, with prelims on ESPN+ at 6:10 p.m. ET) in the main event of a Top Rank Boxing card that includes a junior lightweight title fight between WBC champion O’Shaquie Foster and perennial title challenger Robson Conceicao.
Stevenson (21-0, 10 KOs) is a former featherweight and junior lightweight champion. He also won silver at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics while representing the United States. After winning the WBO junior lightweight title with a 10th-round TKO victory over Jamel Herring in October 2021, Stevenson added the WBC belt with a unanimous decision victory over Oscar Valdez in April 2022. But Stevenson lost the belts on the scales when he failed to make weight for his title defense against Conceicao in September 2022. He then moved up to 135 pounds and scored a sixth-round TKO victory over Shuichiro Yoshino in April.
In November 2023, Stevenson defeated Edwin De Los Santos by unanimous decision (116-112, 115-113, 116-112) to win the then-vacant WBC lightweight title in a forgettable fight that broke the 38-year-old CompuBox record for most punches landed in a 12-round fight. De Los Santos landed only 40 total punches and only 14 power punches. Stevenson didn’t fare much better, landing only 65 total punches, including 19 power punches.
Regardless, Stevenson returned to the fight at home.
“It’s good to come back home to Newark, where a youthful legend is being celebrated, and to defend my title at 135 for the first time,” Stevenson said on May 7 after the fight was officially announced.
Harutyunyan (12-1, 7 KOs), from Yerevan, Armenia (but based in Hamburg, Germany), has never fought for a world title. In his first fight outside of Germany, he suffered the only defeat of his career, a unanimous decision to Frank Martin last July in Las Vegas.
“I respect Shakur Stevenson as a champion, but I’m here to shock his hometown fans and win the WBC lightweight championship,” Harutyunyan said. “This is the chance of a lifetime and I’ll take full advantage of it.”
Let’s take a look at the title fight by the numbers. This report uses information from ESPN Stats & Information and CompuBox.
1. Stevenson will defend the WBC lightweight title, which he won in July 2023 by defeating De Los Santos.
3. This is Stevenson’s third lightweight fight. He made his lightweight debut in April against Yoshino.
13. Unlucky number 13 for Harutyunyan, who, after winning his first 12 professional fights, lost a unanimous decision to Martin, which was his first defeat in his career.
7. Stevenson is the youngest fighter to win a third-division title since Naoya Inoue did so in 2019. Stevenson is also only the seventh fighter to do so in history.
1. Harutyunyan is looking to become the first German fighter to win the lightweight world title. Marco Rudolph lost by eighth-round technical knockout to Artur Grigorian in 1998 for the WBO belt.
6. Stevenson is the sixth fighter to become a three-division champion and also win an Olympic medal. The other five fighters on this list (Sugar Ray Leonard, Pernell Whitaker, Roy Jones Jr., Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather) have been inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Stevenson is also the sixth fighter to win titles in the 126-, 130- and 135-pound weight classes, the youngest of that group to accomplish this feat.
46.83. Stevenson lands 46.83% of his power punches, which is third best according to CompuBox. He also has the lowest percentage of his opponents being struck (16.7%) in all of boxing, according to CompuBox.
In Their Own Words – From Wednesday’s Press Conference
Harutyunyan on this possibility: “I was born in Armenia and grew up in Germany. I came here to fight Shakur Stevenson in his hometown. This is a great opportunity for me. I will give it my all and give a great fight.”
Harutyunyan on his last fight in the US: “I came to Las Vegas last year. I fought Frank Martin. It was a great fight. I know Frank Martin knows he lost the fight. I told everyone I was going to come back to the States. And now it’s done. I’m back here.”
Harutyunyan on his preparations for the fight: “It’s a great opportunity. I had a great training camp and I’m well prepared. I’m ready for this fight. I know Shakur Stevenson is a good fighter. He’s a world champion. We both fought in the Olympics. He’s a silver medalist and I’m a bronze medalist. Now we’re fighting for the world championship.”
Stevenson on Harutyunyan’s praise during Wednesday’s press conference: “You’re trying to act really humble, suck up to me, and pretend like you’re not really coming here to win. No, you’re coming here to win, man. I can tell. He doesn’t sound as confident as I thought. I hope he’s coming here to fight.”
Stevenson on his approach to fighting: “I’m going to take him to a level he’s never been at. I’m just going to be myself. I’m going to go out there and show my talent and my level. I think I’m one of the best in boxing when it comes to hitting and not getting hit. There’s a certain way to do it, and I want to show the fans that all this moving around is something I don’t really have to do. I can sit in the pocket and hit you too.”
It wasn’t a great afternoon for #PurseBidHeads, but it was a great afternoon for Ryan Rozicki and his team.
The Ring has confirmed that an eleven-hour agreement has been reached regarding Rozicki’s rescheduled bout with WBC cruiserweight champion Noel Mikaeljan. Their oft-delayed title fight is now set for December 7 at Center 200 in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Don King Productions and Three Lions Promotions, promoters of Mikaeljan and Rozicki respectively, reached an agreement on Friday afternoon. Minutes before the scheduled bidding hearing, which was subsequently canceled, an agreement was reached.
Mikaejan (27-2, 12 knockouts) will now have to travel to Rozicki’s hometown for his first title defense.
“We managed to get a deal done with Don King minutes before the deadline, Three Lions Promotions president Daniel Otter told The Ring. “We are very excited to bring the world title to Canada.
“Ryan is ready to become a world champion and can’t wait to get in the ring.”
This enthusiasm could not be appreciated enough.
Mikaeljan-Rozicki has already been postponed four times. Problems have arisen since a cut Mikaeljan suffered during training camp wiped out their planned June 7 fight date.
The last attempt to reschedule occurred on September 28 during Don King’s performance at Casino Miami Jai Alai in Miami, Florida. However, the program was immediately canceled without any explanation from King’s office.
This resulted in insolvency in the eyes of the WBC, which re-ordered the title fight and sent the matter to a bidding hearing. For now, the sanctioning authority is satisfied with the latest result.
“It’s going to be an unbelievable fight,” WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman told The Ring. “I am delighted that the WBC cruiserweight title fight will take place in the ring before the end of this year.”
The fight venue is a real home match for Rozicki (20-1, 19 KO).
The building’s primary residents are the Cape Breton Eagles of the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League.
Rozicki (20-1, 19 KO) also regularly appears at the stadium. He headlined or featured prominently in all six boxing events that took place at this location in the 21st century. The last time he scored a first-round knockout was Mario Aguilar (23-9, 19 KO) in December 2022.
Rozicki’s impressive record as he emerged as mandatory challenger to the WBC cruiserweight title was added to by four consecutive knockout victories. Several delays in the title fight have kept him out of the ring since he knocked out Olanrewaju Durodola (46-10, 41 KO) in the first round on December 3 last year in Sydney.
All told, the 29-year-old has won seven straight matches since losing to Oscar Rivas in October 2021. Their fierce fight was the inaugural fight for the WBC bridgeweight title.
His previously scheduled challenge for Mikaeljan’s title would be the first fight of Rozicki’s career outside Canada.
Now it’s Mikaeljan who goes on tour and fights in another promoter’s program.
Mikaeljan, rated No. 2 out of 200 by The Ring, won the belt with a third-round knockout of former champion Ilunga Makabu in his adopted hometown of Miami. The 33-year-old Armenian remains the only busy player in King’s current promotional lineup.
Rozicki is number 8 in the rankings of The Ring organization.
For Tyson Fury, there are parallels between his multi-fight rivalry with Deontay Wilder, which lasted from December 2018 to October 2021, and a potential multi-fight rivalry with Oleksandr Usyk.
He hopes that in the case of Usyk it will end in three fights, which will mean that Fury will win the rematch, which will take place on December 21 in Riyad. He also knows, after his experience with Wilder, that on December 21 he must do more than just box to victory and rely on the three judges in the ring to officially give him the victory.
Of course, in the match against Wilder, Fury drew a controversial draw the first time, which he later corrected with two stoppage victories. However, against Usyk in May, Fury did not resent the judges’ opinion (correct this time), but instead his own inability to dominate Usyk and prevent the fight from lasting so long. He doesn’t want to make the same mistake the second time. The second time around, he will rely on the momentum he experiences in the fight rather than taking it for granted.
“It’s no secret that I’m going there to knock him out because I don’t think that no matter what I do, I won’t get a decision,” said Fury, 34-1-1 (24). interview with Undisputed. “I don’t think I’ll get a boxing decision, so I’ll have to take my hand off the judges like I did back then in America. I have to get him out of there.
Eliminating Oleksandr Usyk is easier said than done. In his professional career spanning 22 fights and 11 years, the brilliant Ukrainian has never been close to defeat, let alone stopped. Moreover, his intelligence and counter-attacking ability are so great that the risk of stopping Usyk forever increases due to his ability to operate his opponent’s aggression and ambition against him. For this reason, and because of his durability, few opponents even considered the prospect of stopping Usyk, 22-0 (14). For this reason, Tyson Fury, despite his size and record in previous rematches, will need to deliver the performance of his life to become the first man to do so.
On Saturday in Liverpool, England, Nick Ball defends his WBA featherweight world title against Ronny Rios at Echo Arena (ESPN+, 2 p.m. ET).
Ball (20-0-1, 11 KO) from Liverpool fought for the WBC featherweight title against Ray Vargas in March, but the fight ended in a draw. Three months later, on June 1, Ball defeated Raymond Ford by split decision to win the WBA belt. He will have his first defense against Rios.
Rios (34-4, 17 KO), of Compton, California, has fought for the junior featherweight title twice, losing both to Vargas in 2017 and Murodjon Akhmadaliev in 2022. He defeats Nicolas Polanco by KO in the fifth round. April.
Where can I watch the Ball vs. fight card? Rios?
Ball vs. fight card Rios will air Saturday on ESPN+ at 2 p.m. ET.
The fights will be broadcast on mobile devices using the ESPN application.
Full Ball vs. Rios fight card:
Title fight: Nick Ball vs. Ronny Rios, 12 rounds, for Ball’s WBA featherweight title
Jack Rafferty vs. Henry Turner, 12 rounds, for the British junior welterweight title
Jack Turner vs. Gonzalo Corinaldesi, 6 rounds, bantamweight
Jadier Herrera vs. Oliver Flores, 10 rounds, lightweight
Walter Fury vs. Dale Arrowsmith, 4 rounds, junior middleweight
Andrew Cain vs. Lazaro Casseres, 12 rounds, bantamweight
Joe Cooper vs. Łukasz Barabasz, 4 rounds, middleweight
Alimkhanuly stops Mikhailovich and defends his IBF middleweight title
Janibek Alimkhanuly defended his IBF middleweight title with a ninth-round TKO victory over Andrei Mikhailovich on Friday at The Star Sydney in Pyrmont, Australia.
The fight ended after Alimkhanuly landed two consecutive left uppercuts that caused Mikhailovich to stumble backwards, forcing referee Katsuhiko Nakamura to stop the fight at 2:45 minutes into the round.
Alimkhanuly hurt Mikhailovich with the same punch in round 2 and scored a knockdown at the bell, but Mikhailovich recovered. From there, it was only a matter of time before Alimkhanuly separated himself and struck frequently with his left hand under Mikhailovich’s pressure.
After the fight, Alimkhanuly said he would like to unify the titles with the other two champions.
“I have two titles and [other] two titles are missing,” Alimkhanuly said. “Each of them [Carlos] Adames or [Erislandy] Lara, I’m ready. Anytime and whenever, send me the paper. I will send it anytime.”
The fight was originally scheduled for July 13 in Las Vegas, but two days before that date, Alimkhanuly fainted while trying to gain weight and was taken to the hospital, where he was forced to withdraw due to severe dehydration.
Alimkhanuly (16-0, 11 KO), from Zhilanda, Kazakhstan but currently living and training in Oxnard, California, won the WBO middleweight title with a unanimous decision victory over Denzel Bentley in November 2022. He made one defense in May 2023. , a second-round KO of Steve Butler, before dropping Vincenzo Gualtieri in six rounds last October to add the IBF title. The WBO title was not at risk in the fight against Mikhailovich.
Mikhailovich (21-1, 13 KO) is a weighty puncher with long arms (74½ inches) from Auckland, Recent Zealand. He won seven of his last eight fights by stoppage before losing to Alimkhanuly.
Mikhailovich was born in Russia, but after being adopted, he and his brother moved to Recent Zealand.
Where can I watch a replay of the Alimkhanuly vs. fight? Mikhailovich?
Alimkhanuly vs. fight card replay Mikhailovich can be streamed on ESPN+.
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