SPORTS FACTS AND FIGURES 39: BOB ARUM SAYS LOTS OF FIGHTS ARE AVAILABLE FOR SHAKUR STEVENSON TO UNRETIRE
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 07 Feb 2024
Shakur Stevenson in Las Vegas.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum clarified that the fights that Shakur Stevenson wants against Emanuel Navarrete and Vasily Lomachenko are not feasible at present because those fighters are taking advantage of available world title fights for the vacant lightweight belts.
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Arum thinks that WBC lightweight champion Stevenson (21-0, 10 KOs), who retired recently because of bitterness of not obtaining the fights with Loma and Navarrete, has to be patient because those prospective bouts will be come for him in time.
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For the meantime, Bob says there are still lots of interesting fights available to Shakur at his lightweight division and he can take advantage of them. Although Arum did not categorically say who Stevenson can fight against.
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"Shakur wanted to fight [Emanuel] Navarrete, who is the 130-lb [WBO] champion, now moving up to 135,” Bob Arum told Fighthype and Boxing News 24 about the retired Shakur Stevenson, still the WBC lightweight champion.
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It’s difficult for Arum to arrange Navarrete to fight Shakur because his camp won't be going to agree to that fight unless there’s a bigger purse available. “Navarrete was ordered if he wants to fight for a title [vacant WBO 135-lb belt] to fight [Denys] Berinchyk, which the fight will happen."
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"Then, as far as Lomachenko is concerned. Loma got a bigger offer; we got a big offer for Loma to fight Kambosos for the IBF [lightweight] title in Australia [on May 12th], which he took," added Arum.
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“Shakur is the WBC [135-lb] champion. There are plenty of good fighters for him to fight. Obviously, down the road, we’ll be able to do a fight between Shakur and Lomachenko if he’s successful with Kambosos or with Navarrete if he becomes the WBO 135-lb champion," Arum said.
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According to the veteran promoter, "Everything takes patience. Now, Shakur is a tremendous talent, and with a lot of tremendous talent, they become impatient. They want everything today or tomorrow. That’s not the way it happens in boxing."
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"So, I understand his [Stevenson] frustration, but I also understand that now that he’s had time to reflect, he realizes that he’s got to be patient and the big fights will come to him,” said Arum.
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Shakur has held multiple world championships in three weight classes from featherweight to super featherweight to lightweight. As an amateur, he donned the flag of the United States at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, and won a silver medal in the bantamweight division. He is undefeated in 21 fights with 10 knockouts in the pros.
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Sports History: February 7, 2023. LeBron James scored 38 points to become the NBA's all-time leading scorer as the Lakers were defeated by Oklahoma City Thunder, 133-130, in Los Angeles. He broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's record of 38,387 career points.
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