Shakur Stevenson Opens up About Top Rank Issues, Reveals a Message to His Critics and Discusses July 6 Fight

On Saturday, July 6, Shakur Stevenson (21-0, 10 KOs) will face Artem Harutyunyan (12-1, 7 KOs) at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, for Stevenson‘s WBC lightweight title. The entire card will be shown live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ in the U.S. and Sky Sports in the U.K. and Ireland. Ahead of fight night, the Newark-born southpaw has spoken to Dan Rafael about fighting in his home town, his promotional difficulties with Top Rank and revealed a message to his critics ahead of his upcoming fight on July 6.

Shakur Stevenson Talks to Dan Rafael About Top Rank Difficulties and His Next Fight

Shakur Stevenson Unhappy With Top Rank

Rafael asked Shakur about how it feels to be fighting in his own town, Stevenson said: “It means everything to me. I hope that everybody comes out to support. I know that my promotional company is not trying to promote the fight properly.”

He continued: “I just pray that the same people been coming out for me keep coming out for me, and just show up and enjoy the show.”

Read More: Shakur Stevenson vs. Shuichiro Yoshino Fight Results: Shakur Stops Yoshino By TKO

Following on from Stevenson‘s comment about Top Rank not promoting his fight, Rafael asked the Newark-born fighter to elaborate: “I mean, usually it’s just more. I’ve been working with them for years. It’s not just about the interviews that I’m doing with y‘all. I feel as though we’ve been working for a long time and they just (need to do) more. I ain’t gonna get into details. It is what it is. I ain’t trippin’ on it – I just gotta show up and do my job.”

Rafael then asked Stevenson about this being his last fight with Top Rank, and if impending free agency is a distraction: “Nah, I don’t really care for it. Honestly, the free agency and everything with it, that matters after the fight. Right now, we gotta stay focused on what’s ahead of us and the main thing is coming in there prepared and ready to put on a performance, so nah, I don’t care for it, it is what it is and not a distraction at all.”

Edwin De Los Santos Fight

Rafael then asked about his last fight against Edwin De Los Santos, and his feelings regarding that fight: “The other part of it, it is what it is. I can’t do anything about it, but at the end of the day, we got to also take recognition and understand that De Los Santos is not an easy fight and hopefully, I’m hoping that somebody gives him an opportunity because now the world can see that that’s not a guy that you just go in there and annihilate, and especially like someone like me that I got one hand in the fight. So now I’m fighting this good fighter that has good defensive abilities and got power and is a tricky fighter with good skills.”

Read More: Shakur Stevenson Cruises To Lopsided Win Over Conceicao

He continued: “I’m fighting him with one hand. Yeah, I was mad with myself, but now that I went back and rewatched it and understand, like everything that was going on, I’m not mad, and I’m happy that I can go pull that off on a bad night and I don’t think that there’s a lot of fighters that y’all put at the top level that will fight him. We already seen Pitbull Cruz turned him down in a fight.”

Listen to the exclusive interview below with Shakur Stevenson.

Message to His Critics

Stevenson also expressed his dissatisfaction at the public, who criticised his win over De Los Santos, by saying: “I’m mad at the public.”

In a further message to his detractors, Shakur exclaimed: “If its f**k you to me. It’s f**k you to them too.”

Looking Ahead to Harutyunyan Fight

After an animated response from Stevenson, the conversation moved on to Harutyunyan and how he views his July 6 opponent: “I think he’s a real good solid fighter. I think that he tries to pressure you with his legs. Got real good footwork.”

He continued: “Got a nice little high guard. Honestly, I just don’t think he seen anything like me.”

Read More: Shakur Stevenson Dominant In Decision Win Over Valdez

Stevenson was then asked what he thought of Harutyunyan‘s performance against Frank Martin: “Honestly, I thought he was winning the fight.”

“I think that I’m just levels above him and I still got to go out there and prove it. So on July 6 is the date, that’s the date we go out there and show who I am,” Shakur said when speaking about July 6.

The Future

Finishing the interview, Rafael asked Stevenson what he’s looking for in his next promotional deal: “I think big fights is mainly the thing that I’m looking for. I want to be in big fights because I want a chance to prove to the world, to show who I am as a fighter but honestly, it’s hard to think about that kind of stuff with what’s going on right now and I’m trying to like stay within a moment and focus on Artem. We can talk about it but it ain’t here yet. I mean you know it will be better interviewing me after the Artem fight and then I can strategically tell you.”

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When asked about potential big fights in the future – Stevenson expressed his dissatisfaction at the negotiations between Top Rank for the Tank Davis vs. Vasiliy Lomachenko fight.