Shakur Stevenson is all set to defend his title against Artem Harutyunyan. The duo will slug it out in front of his hometown crowd at the Prudential Center in Newark. This fight follows his earlier emotional announcement of retirement earlier in the year. He became a three-division champion after securing a win over Edwin De Los Santos on November 26 last year.

Most fans expect Shakur Stevenson to surpass the Armenian-German fighter. So the greater question is: who will he face next? Will he settle for a title-unification fight with Gervonta Davis? Nevertheless, before reaching out to Tank, why not try out the remaining lightweight champions, viz. Vasyl Lomachenko and Denis Berinchyk? Then he can always consider the callout from Oscar De La Hoya for a William Zepeda fight.

Shakur Stevenson and a not so ‘Sugar’y message to ‘The Matrix’ 

So the reporter from Fight Hub TV reached out to Shakur Stevenson and checked whether he had seen the Lomachenko versus George Kambosos Jr. fight. The Newark-born southpaw replied that he had. However, he believes that despite looking sharp and decisive, ‘The Matrix’ might be afraid of facing him. This seemingly surprised the reporter.

“Yeah, he’s scared to fight me,” continued Stevenson. So the reporter told him to drop in a message to ‘Loma’, just in case he’s watching the interview. Smiling, the WBC lightweight champion said, “Stop being scared, Lomachenko; we going to call you uh uh ‘Duck’-Chenko or uh ‘Scary’-Chenko or something like that until you fight me, champ.”

The exchange continued. “If he’s high-tech, then who is Shakur Stevenson?” asked the reporter. “I don’t want no nicknames; just nickname me after I whoop his a**,” replied the three-division champion.

In the 135-pound weight class, Shakur Stevenson holds a significant position. His status as a WBC champion makes him an attractive proposition from every corner, as far as title unification goes. The cherry on top is that the division has one of the biggest names in boxing today, Gervonta Davis. Then Vasyl Lomachenko follows.

The lightweight pickle

But one shouldn’t forget Oscar De La Hoya’s invitation. With 26 of his 30 wins coming by way of knockouts, the 28-year-old Mexican, William Zepeda, literally packs a punch a ‘la ‘Tank’ style. Incidentally, the ‘Camaron’ also has a fight on the same date as Shakur Stevenson has, June 6, but at a different location.

Incidentally, it would not be the first time De La Hoya has called out Stevenson. Right after Zepeda’s latest win over Maxi Hughes, the ‘Golden Boy’ sounded off the war bugle to the Newark-born southpaw. “I would love to see him with anybody, with Shakur Stevenson. Shakur, if you’re watching, let’s get it on; let’s go.” Even Bob Arum, Top Rank head, expressed his enthusiasm about the potential match-up.

Incidentally, when eminent journalist Lance Pugmire raised the question, “William Zepeda having his way in Vegas. Who wants him next, @ShakurStevenson or Gervonta Davis? The fight is over!” The WBC lightweight champion had responded by raising his hands. So fans would be eagerly watching out for his response to De La Hoya’s latest call-out. 

Otherwise, there’s no denying the kind of matchup it makes between ‘The Matrix’ and Shakur Stevenson. Both come off as two of the most technically gifted boxers of recent times. So if not for an early stoppage, fans of pure boxing would surely enjoy a masterful exchange between these two boxing intellects.

With his comeback win over George Kambosos Jr., has Vasyl Lomachenko become the go-to guy in the lightweight division? From the gist of it, it might appear so. There are already rumors of talks taking place to secure a fight between the two-time Olympic gold medalist and Gervonta Davis. When a Baltimorean can express so much interest in fighting the Ukrainian, why should the man from New Jersey be left behind?

What’s your take on the Shakur Stevenson-Vasyl Lomachenko line-up? Please share your views with us in the comments below.