Shakur Stevenson is primed and ready for his bout against Artem Harutyunyan at Prudential Center, Newark on 6th July. The twelve-round skirmish will be his first WBC title defense since he acquired it back in November last year. However, it’s more than just a title defense for him, it’s his redemption arc. Why?

Shakur Stevenson’s last fight against Edwin De Las Santos was widely criticized as a snooze fest, leaving fans dissatisfied with his performance. As he prepares for his final fight under the Top Rank banner, Stevenson must prove his ability to deliver exciting, money-making bouts. Beyond his in-ring action, he needs to choose the perfect walkout song to set the tone for the fight. While the Newark native hasn’t revealed his choice for this bout, looking at his previous ring walks might offer a hint of what’s to come.

Edwin De Los Santos

Kickstarting the list with Stevenson’s most recent bout against Edwin De Los Santos, the undefeated boxer had pulled out all the guns to impress the fans in the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas in November last year. While the fight might have caused him a lot of problems, Stevenson came into the ring with all the finesse strutting to ‘Show Da World’, a song by Boosie Badazz, Trill Family, and Webbie.

The song was Lil Boosie’s first single after being released from prison, which was released back in January 9th, 2014. However, that’s not all! Stevenson even called on sparring partner Terence Crawford and former super middleweight champion Andre Ward to walk him to the ring, which had, at the time, gotten the thousands of fans in the crowd really hyped for the fight. 

Shuichiro Yoshino

Going one step down in Stevenson’s resume, the WBC lightweight champion took on Shuichiro Yoshino back in April last year at the same arena where he is about to face Harutyunyan at—yep, you guessed it, Prudential Center, Newark. While this time, Crawford or Ward weren’t walking beside him, Stevenson had someone else on his journey to the ring. Guess who?

It was, of course, American rapper and songwriter Finese2Tymes, who delivered an exciting live performance in Stevenson’s ring walk. The rapper sang his July 2022 released ‘Back End’, which at one point debuted at #98 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the chart week ending of February 4, 2023. Finese2Tymes wrote this song in collaboration with DJ X.O. & Avo, who were also the producers of this song.

Robson Conceicao

Finese2Tymes wasn’t the only one who had the pleasure of walking Stevenson to the ring. In the fight against Robson Conceicao back in September 2022 at Prudential Center, Newark, Stevenson elicited help from another American rapper. The Conceicao fight may have gone the distance, but Kevin Gates delivered a knockout live performance during the ring walk. 

The 38-year-old sang ‘Intro’ from his June 10, 2022 released album ‘Khaza’, as Stevenson strutted down to the ring in front of thousands in his backyard. Interestingly, it was his third studio album, which received widespread praise from the fans. Gates wrote the entire album alongside his producers, Nick Seeley and 2Much, which consists of nineteen songs. 

Oscar Valdez

Despite the bangers Stevenson delivered in his ring walks before, this one stands out the most! ‘Sugar’ Stevenson locked horns with Oscar Valdez back in April 2022 at the MGM Grand, Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. The twelve-round bout between Stevenson and Valdez ended with the former winning the fight via unanimous decision to lay claim to Valdez’s WBC super featherweight title.

However, that’s not the only thing Stevenson won that night! He won over the people with his performance, of course, but his ring walk might also have played a small role. Stevenson walked out to the ring with the American rapper Da Baby, who electrified the Las Vegas crowd with his live performance of January 10, 2022, released ‘Hit’. The song also featured a name boxing fans are well aware of—YoungBoy Never Broke Again.

Jamel Herring

The final entry on this list had to be the Jamel Herring fight, which saw Stevenson acquire the WBO super featherweight title. The duo went toe-to-toe at the State Farm Arena, Atlanta, back in October 2021, and after ten rounds of battle, Stevenson won the fight via knockout. Even though Stevenson didn’t have a walking partner this time, he smashed it with his red and white attire. 

As he started his walk to the ring, ‘Straightenin’ by Migos was blasting out of the speakers in the arena. The May 14, 2021 released hit was written by Quavo, Takeoff, Offset, DJ Durel, Slime Castro, OSIRIS, Nuki, Sluzyyy and Atake, which debuted at #38 during the week of May 29, 2021 on the Billboard Hot 100. 

As you can see, Stevenson doesn’t use the same song twice, so it’s unlikely any of these tracks will be playing on Saturday night at Prudential Center, Newark. But this should give you a clear idea of the kind of songs Shakur Stevenson is into. If you had to guess, which song do you think Stevenson will walk out to this time?