Shakur Stevenson is not having the best of time in finding an opponent for the title eliminator with several of the top fighters in the lightweight category reluctant to take up this opportunity. This was after the World Boxing Championship (WBC) had asked Stevenson to enter a title eliminator in the category where he’s ascended to recently.
The former featherweight champion recently announced that he will struggle to continue in the 130 pounds category. Despite being one of the best in the division with a staggering record of 19 wins on the trot and nine knockouts, he has to make his way to a different category and now has a plethora of options to pick a player to fight for the title.
Although the former Olympic silver medalist is hoping to compete against Devin Haney, the division’s undisputed champion, he is in the midst of negotiating a showdown that would see him take on Vasiliy Lomachenko. This meant that Stevenson will not be able to jump the queue and head directly into a clash for the title, an eliminator would be necessary.
As it stands, Stevenson is considering Frank Martin as a possible contender for this Eliminator clash. The 28-year-old from Detroit, Michigan, amassed several wins during his 2022 campaign, but his latest victory against Michel Rivera made Stevenson take attention of the upcoming star. Although Martin could eventually become someone he has to swap fists against, that didn’t stop Stevenson from accentuating what makes Martin such a terrific fighter.
“I think he’s a great fighter,” said Stevenson on Thaboxingvoice. “He got great timing, speed, great reflexes. He’s definitely a great fighter, I don’t take anything away from him.”
In 2022, Shakur Stevenson entered the ring for two professional bouts, against Robson Conceicao and Oscar Valdez. The American was not the happiest about a unification bout against Oscar Valdez and was keen to fight the man in the ring. Although it took quite a long time to materialize than he wanted, he was officially given the opportunity on April 30th, 2022.
Valdez proved to be little to no match for the boxer from New Jersey, losing via lopsided unanimous decision, thus allowing Stevenson to continue his unbeaten run in the division.
