Back to the Ring: Shakur Stevenson’s Fight Plans After Announcing He Was Retiring

Shakur Stevenson shocked the boxing world in January 2024 when he announced he was hanging up his boxing gloves for good. “I’m officially retiring from the sport of boxing,” he wrote on X. People were surprised, to say the least. 

The shockwaves wouldn’t last long, though. Shakur Stevenson retired for less than three weeks before unveiling a new plan. He returned to X to reveal he was ready to “fight any and everybody.”

Shakur Stevenson Returns from Retirement Against Artem Harutyunyan

Shakur Stevenson vs. Artem Harutyunyan

The following month, Stevenson stuck to this by announcing a fight against Artem Harutyunyan at the Prudential Center in his hometown of Newark, NJ on July 6. The excitement will be palpable – not only in the arena but also across the state, with his fans in Newark and throughout New Jersey -y who can’t wait to see Stevenson get back to business. His fans can feel even more connected to the event with NJ free bets and various promotions.

Before you begin placing your wagers on this fight, let’s look at how Stevenson got to this point in his career.

Launching His Career

While Stevenson is only 26, he has already enjoyed a pretty long career as a boxer. It started in his teen years when he won the 2014 IBA Youth World Championships and the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics. He also qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics and won a silver medal.

Going Pro

Stevenson went pro as a boxer in February 2017 by signing with Bob Arum’s Top Rank. He also signed former boxer Andre Ward to serve as his manager and took part in his first pro boxing match in April 2017 against Edgar Brito. He won that match and three others in 2017. He also won all five fights he agreed to in 2018 to move to 9-0 with five TKOs.

His Rise Through the Ranks

Stevenson’s first championship fight didn’t take place until January 2019, when he beat Jessie Cris Rosales by TKO to win both the IBF Inter-Continental and WBC Continental Americas featherweight titles. He followed that up by winning an April 2019 fight against Christopher Diaz to win the NABO featherweight title. He also won the WBO featherweight title with a win over Joet Gonzalez in October 2019 and later got his hands on the WBO super featherweight title by beating Jamel Herring in October 2021.

Stevenson added the WBC and The Ring super featherweight titles when he beat Óscar Valdez in April 2022. He also secured the WBC lightweight title after beating his most recent opponent, Edwin De Los Santos, in November 2023. To date, Shakur Stevenson’s stats have him going an impressive 21-0 with ten knockouts.

His Next Fight

Stevenson hasn’t defended his WBC lightweight title yet, and it almost looked like he might not get the opportunity to do it due to his short-lived retirement. But for Shakur Stevenson, his next fight will see him defend this title against Harutyunyan in Newark with his local fans looking on.

So, will Stevenson do what he’s done throughout his pro career and turn Harutyunyan into his next casualty? Or will Stevenson wish he had stuck with his retirement plans? Either way, it’ll be great to see a guy who should be in the ring early and often at this stage of his career step back into it.