Shakur Stevenson and Frank Martin have agreed to a deal for a lightweight fight that will likely take place on Nov. 16 in Las Vegas or Dec. 9 in New York.
Devin Haney, the undisputed lightweight champion, is slated to move up to 140 pounds for a fight with Regis Prograis later this year and was thus named the WBC’s champion in recess. Stevenson is promoted by Top Rank and Martin is aligned with PBC, which has a deal with Showtime.
The Stevenson-Martin fight will be televised on ESPN as a main event days before the debut of the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Las Vegas or following the presentation of the Heisman Trophy in New York, sources said.
Stevenson (20-0, 10 KOs), 26, is one of the fastest-rising stars in boxing. He is ESPN’s No. 9 pound-for-pound boxer (and No. 4 lightweight). The Newark, New Jersey, native has won titles at 126 and 130 pounds and will now look to do the same in a third weight class.
Martin (18-0, 12 KOs), 28, is untested but is arguably Stevenson’s toughest test yet. Guided by ESPN’s 2022 Trainer of the Year Derrick James, Martin is coming off a close decision win over Artem Harutyunyan, whom he dropped in Round 12 of their July fight.
Before that, Martin outpointed Michel Rivera, but Martin will now step up to a fight with one of boxing’s best talents.
Stevenson, a southpaw who is perhaps the sport’s best defensive fighter, scored a sixth-round stoppage of Shuichiro Yoshino in April in his lightweight debut.
Thoughts?
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