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WBC STATISTICS
WBC Lightweight World Championship
& WBC Super Featherweight World Championship
July 6, 2024 / Newark, New Jersey / Prudential Center
TOP RANK PRESENTS:
SHAKUR STEVENSON (USA)
WBC Lightweight World Champion
Former WBC Super Featherweight World Champion
Age: 27 / Date of birth: June 28, 1997
Residence: Houston, Texas / Birthplace: Newark, New Jersey
Record: 21-0, 10 KOs / Total rounds: 145 / World championship fights: 5-0, 1 KO
Height: 5’7” – 170cm / Reach: 68” – 172cm / Stance: Left-handed
Managers: James Prince, Josh Dubin / Trainer: Wali Moses
ARTEM “The Original” HARUTYUNYAN (Germany)
Ranked WBC No. 7 at Lightweight
Former WBC International Lightweight Champion, 1 Defense
Age: 32 / Date of birth: August 13, 1990
Residence: Hamburg, Germany / Birthplace: Yerevan, Armenia
Record: 12-1, 7 KOs / Total rounds: 83
Height: 5’7.5” – 71cm / Reach: 68” – 172cm / Stance: Right-handed
Manager: Marlon Esteban / Trainer: Artur Grigorian
WBC LIGHTWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPIONS
1. Carlos Ortiz (P. Rico) 1963 – 1965
2. Ismael Laguna (Pan) 1965
3. Carlos Ortiz (P. Rico) * 1965 – 1968
4. Carlos Teo Cruz (Dom. Rep.) 1968 – 1969
5. Mando Ramos (USA) 1969 – 1970
6. Ismael Laguna (Pan)* 1970
7. Pedro Carrasco (Spain) 1971 – 1972
8. Mando Ramos (USA) * 1972
9. Erubey Carmona (Mex) 1972
10. Rodolfo Gonzalez (Mex) 1972 – 1974
11. Ishimatsu Suzuki (Japan) 1974 – 1976
12. Esteban De Jesus (P. Rico) 1976 – 1978
13. Roberto Duran (Pan) 1978
14. Jim Watt (GB) 1979 – 1981
15. Alexis Arguello (Nic) 1981 – 1983
16. Edwin Rosario (P. Rico) 1983 – 1984
17. Jose Luis Ramirez (Méx) 1984 – 1985
18. Hector Camacho (P. Rico) 1985 – 1987
19. Jose Luis Ramírez (Méx) * 1987 – 1988
20. Julio Cesar Chavez (Méx) 1988
21. Pernell Whitaker (USA) 1989 – 1991
22. Miguel Angel Gonzalez (Mex) 1992 – 1995
23. Jean Baptiste Mendy (Fra) 1996 – 1997
24. Stevie Johnston (USA) 1997 – 1998
25. Cesar Bazan (Mex) 1998 – 1999
26. Steve Johnston (USA) * 1999 – 2000
27. Jose Luis Castillo (Mex) 2000 – 2002
28. Floyd Mayweather Jr. (USA) 2002 – 2003
29. Jose Luis Castillo (Mex) * 2004 – 2005
30. Diego Corrales (USA) 2005
31. Jose A. Santa Cruz (USA) Interim 2006
32. David Diaz (USA) Interim 2006 – 2008
33. Joel Casamayor (Cuba) 2007
34. Manny Pacquiao (Phil) 2008
35. Edwin Valero (Venezuela) 2009 – 2010
36. Antonio De Marco (Mex) Interim 2009 – 2010
37. Humberto Soto (Mexico) 2010 – 2011
38. Antonio De Marco (Mexico) * 2011 – 2012
39. Adrien Broner (USA) 2012 – 2013
40. Omar Figueroa (USA) 2014
41. Jorge Linares (Venezuela) 2014 – 2016
42. Dejan Zlaticanin (Montenegro) 2016 – 2017
43. Mikey Garcia (USA) 2018 – 2019
44. Vasiliy Lomachenko (Ukraine) Franchise Champion 2019 – 2020
45. Devin Haney (USA) 2019 – 2023
46. Teofimo Lopez (Honduras/USA) Franchise Champion 2020 – 2021
47. Ryan Garcia (USA) Interim 2021
48. George Kambosos Jr. (Aust) Franchise Champion 2021 – 2022
49. Shakur Stevenson (USA) 2023 –
* Regained
WBC TOP 10 LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPIONS
1. Floyd Mayweather Jr. (US)
2. Julio Cesar Chavez (Mexico)
3. Roberto Duran (Panama)
4. Carlos Ortiz (Puerto Rico)
5. Pernell Whitaker (US)
6. Alexis Arguello (Nicaragua)
7. Hector Camacho (Puerto Rico)
8. Ismael Laguna (Panama)
9. Esteban De Jesus (Puerto Rico)
10. Edwin Rosario (Puerto Rico)
GENERAL INFORMATION ON THE LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION IN WBC HISTORY
42 world champions have been recognized by the WBC, seven of whom have regained the title:
Carlos Ortiz (Puerto Rico), Ismael Laguna (Panama), Mando Ramos (US), Jose Luis Ramirez (Mexico), Stevie Johnston (US), Jose Luis Castillo (Mexico), Antonio DeMarco (Mexico).
131 lightweight world championship fights have been held in WBC history.
WBC LIGHTWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FIGHTS:
May 20, 2023 Devin Haney W12 Vasiliy Lomachenko – Las Vegas, Nevada
Oct. 16, 2022 Devin Haney W12 George Kambosos Jr. – Melbourne, Australia
June 5, 2022 Devin Haney W12 George Kambosos Jr. – Melbourne, Australia
Nov. 27 2021 George Kambosos Jr. W12 Teofimo Lopez (Franchise) – New York, New York
May 29, 2021 Devin Haney W12 Jorge Linares – Las Vegas, Nevada
Oct. 17, 2020 Teofimo Lopez W12 Vasiliy Lomachenko (Franchise) – Las Vegas, Nevada
Nov. 9, 2019 Devin Haney W12 Alfredo Santiago – Los Angeles, California
Aug. 31, 2019 Vasiliy Lomachenko W12 Luke Campbell – London, England
July 28, 2018 Mikey Garcia W12 Robert Easter Jr. – Los Angeles, California
Jan. 28, 2017 Mikey Garcia KO3 Dejan Zlaticanin – Las Vegas, Nevada
May 30, 2015 Jorge Linares TKO10 Kevin Mitchell – London, England
July 27, 2013 Omar Figueroa Jr. W12 Nihito Arakawa – San Antonio, Texas
Nov. 17, 2012 Adrien Broner TKO8 Antonio DeMarco – Atlantic City, New Jersey
Oct. 15, 2011 Antonio DeMarco TKO11 Jorge Linares – Los Angeles, California
Dec. 4, 2010 Humberto Soto W12 Urbano Antillon – Anaheim, California
Feb. 6, 2010 Edwin Valero TKO9 Antonio DeMarco – Monterrey, Nuevo Leon
June 28, 2008 Manny Pacquiao TKO9 David Diaz – Las Vegas, Nevada
Oct. 7, 2006 Joel Casamayor W12 Diego Corrales – Las Vegas, Nevada
May 7, 2005 Diego Corrales TKO10 José Luis Castillo – Las Vegas, Nevada
Dec. 4, 2004 José Luis Castillo W12 Joel Casamayor – Las Vegas, Nevada
Apr. 20, 2002 Floyd Mayweather Jr. W12 José Luis Castillo – Las Vegas, Nevada
Feb. 27, 1999 Stevie Johnston W12 Cesar Bazan – Miami, Florida
Nov. 27, 1993 Miguel Angel Gonzalez TKO11 Wilfrido Rocha – Mexico City, Distrito Federal
May 19, 1990 Pernell Whitaker W12 Azumah Nelson – Las Vegas, Nevada
Aug. 20, 1989 Pernell Whitaker W12 José Luis Ramirez – Norfolk, Virginia
Oct. 9, 1988 Julio Cesar Chavez TW11 José Luis Ramirez – Las Vegas, Nevada
Oct. 10, 1987 José Luis Ramirez KO5 Cornelius Boza-Edwards – Paris, France
June 13, 1986 Hector Camacho W12 Edwin Rosario – New York, New York
May 1, 1983 Edwin Rosario W12 José Luis Ramirez – San Juan, Puerto Rico
Oct. 3, 1981 Alexis Arguello TKO14 Ray Mancini – Atlantic City, New Jersey
Apr. 17, 1979 Jim Watt TKO12 Antonio Pitalua – Glasgow, Scotland
Feb. 27, 1975 Guts Ishimatsu W15 Ken Buchanan – Tokyo, Japan
Jan. 21, 1978 Roberto Duran TKO12 Esteban DeJesus – Las Vegas, Nevada
June 28, 1972 Mando Ramos W15 Pedro Carrasco – Madrid, Spain
Apr. 7, 1963 Carlos Ortiz TKO13 Doug Vaillant – San Juan, Puerto Rico.
By James Blears
Shakur Stevenson is defending his WBC lightweight title for the first time, and it’s on home turf at the Prudential Center, Newark New Jersey against Artem Harutyunyan of Germany by way of Armenia, on July 6th.
Also on the same bill O’Shaquie Foster defends his WBC super-featherweight title against Robson Concieicao and there’s a top lightweight bout between Keyshawn Davis and Miguel Madueno.
Shakur is a magnificent maestro boxer. His defence is impeccable, his hand speed is slick and quick. His jabs can paw, range find, or snap with jolting precision and his southpaw left carries laser guided pep, invariably finding the target. He doesn’t waste punches, yet his percentage of connects is spot on. When opponents pursue him, he moves laterally or steps back one pace out or range and then brilliantly counters them.
Often as not he commands the center of the ring, and with an undefeated record of 21-0, 10 KO’s he is ruthless and superb…when the mood takes him? He can blister opponents with cascades of punches from diverse angles, while simultaneously being very hard to hit cleanly in retaliation. But… he can also coast, relying on his deft, left craftsmanship to keep him out of trouble and ease to a points victory. The latter strategy can be frustrating to watch for fans, who don’t have the patience, perception and appreciation of purists. Those fans went action, excitement and KO’s!
In his most recent fight against Edwin De Los Santos to win the vacant WBC lightweight title, the two of them only landed forty punches. That’s an unenviable all time low ratio on CompuBOX records for a twelve round championship bout. Neither reached double digits impacts in any round. At the end there was hardly a bead of sweat shed by Shakur. Frankly, it was boring and pedestrian. After that Shakur briefly retired. But now he’s back and is vowing to up the tempo in this fight against Artem. Shakur is determined to impress at home.
Shakur has boldly stated: ”It feels good to be going home to Newark, where they appreciate a young legend and to make my first defence at one hundred and thirty five. On July 6th, down goes Artem! It’s spooky. I’ve got the future of the sport on my card and I promise you that I’m going to close the show!”
Hamburg based Artem, 12-1, 7 KO’S, is matter of fact saying: ”This will be my second fight in the US, and I’ve learned and progressed since my loss to Frank Martin. I respect Shakur as a champion, but I’m coming to shock his hometown fans. This is the opportunity of a lifetime and I will take full advantage of it.”
In that fight against Frank, Artem started brightly. He was aggressive and landed well, being ahead on points at the half way point. But then, southpaw Frank, who was also undefeated at this point, started to ratchet up the pressure. He landed body punches and snapped Artem’s head back with clusters of left hooks. Frank went all out in round ten and repeatedly drove back Artem. The fight was still close and if Artem had won the twelfth and final round, it would have been a draw. But Artem took a knee, following a flurry of punches and this made the significant difference. By this stage he looked very tired. Had he expended too much energy early on or is his stamina suspect. We’re soon going to find out.
Artem is a skilled boxer. He won a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics in the super-lightweight category. Shakur went one better winning silver in the bantamweight division, losing in the final to Cuban Robeisy Ramirez.
As a professional Shakur has already excelled, winning world titles in three different weight categories. He’s still only twenty seven, while Artem is seven years older. Shakur won the WBO featherweight title against Joet Gonzalez by a county mile on points by 119-109 on all three scorecards, relinqushing it soon thereafter, with no defence of that championship. He was aiming for Jermel Herring’s WBO super-featherweight title and won it via tenth round stoppage. He excelled with a virtuoso performance. From the first bell he was the aggressor, often as not standing his ground, but instead of slugging and trading, he picked off Jermel with the razor sharp precision of an eagle’s talons.
Time and again he jolted and peppered fellow southpaw Jermel with cracking right jabs and plastered him with thudding lefts. This badly swelled Jermel’s left eye and then Shakur focused upon the other, cutting it badly. By the end, Jermel wasn’t seeing the punches coming and after a cascade of unanswered blows and backed up against the ropes Referee Mark Nelson mercifully moved in to save him.
Then on to the unification bout against WBC champion Oscar Valdez. Another masterful night for Shakur, who countered beautifully. Oscar had trouble in reaching him and as so often, Oscar’s face marked up badly. In round six, Oscar over extended, flailed and lunged forward. In an instant, Shukur dropped him with a left hook. Oscar suffered a cut over his right eye and was never able to resolve the distance issue, which Shakur controlled, to comprehensively outbox and outpunch him on his way to a UD victory.
Next up was Robson Conceicao, who had won a gold medal in the Rio Olympics in the lightweight division. By this time Shakur who was physically developing, couldn’t make the super-featherweight limit any more. Coming in 1.6 pounds overweight, he was stripped of the WBC and WBO Titles, but dominated throughout winning a UD by 117-109 on two cards and 118-108 on the other. Moving up to lightweight he comprehensively outfought brave but outclassed Shuichiro Yoshino, stopping him in six overwhelming rounds, before the De Los Santos snoozefest.
It’s been a year since Artem last fought, so he might have to shake off some ring rust. To shine in a burnished fashion, he’ll have to take the fight to Shakur and go for a stoppage win. Even considering his Olympic heritage, it’s most unlikely he’ll be able to outbox Shakur, who is also keen to impress on his own doorstep.
Shakur has ten KO wins on his record. He’s not a chilling puncher, but a cumulative one. When he sets his mind to the task at hand and he is faced with an aggressive come forward opponent, it brings out his best. This is likely to happen with Artem who isn’t coming to engage in a pugilistic chess match. Shakur has declared: ”I want to be a superstar and I’m here to last.”
To achieve this he must clobber as well as finesse. Robert Stephenson designed and built an innovative steam locomotive in 1829. It was a major factor and driving force in the Industrial Revolution. Night Train was the favorite song of the formidable Sonny Liston, who used to skip to it. Shakur is an entirely different fighter. But to be great… he’s got to step it up and stop who is in front of him in the ring, appreciably more often.
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