By: Sean Crose
Shakur Stevenson is moving up in the world. Top Rank Promotions has announced that on April 8th, the Newark native will be fighting in front of a hometown crowd at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. His opponent on the ESPN televised card will be the undefeated 16-0 Shuichiro Yoshino. While Newark is a long way away from Yoshino’s native Tokyo, the chance to face the 19-0 Stevenson represents the opportunity of a lifetime for the widely unknown heavy puncher. Stevenson, as American fans know, is a walking, talking skill set. It will be interesting to see him face the heavy handed Yoshino, who has had only four fights go the distance.
The announcement of the fight by Top Rank came with a colorful promotional image that looks like something out of a Blade Runner sequel. A lightweight title eliminator, the scheduled 12 round affair will determine who is in line for the WBC title currently held by Devin Haney. While it looks like Haney will next be squaring off against former titlist Vasyl Lomachenko, the winner of the two matches will likely be in line to face off against one another.
The 25 year old Stevenson was last in the ring back in November when he scored a unanimous decision win over Robson Conceicao. Since turning pro in 2017, the former Olympian has won world titles in two weight divisions, and, should he best Yoshino, will now be in line for a third divisional world championship. As for the 31 year old Yoshino, the Tokyo native was last in the ring as recently as November, when he knocked out countryman Masayoshi Nakatani in six. This will be Yoshino’s first fight outside of his native Japan. Stevenson, on the other hand, will be fighting at the Prudential Center for the second time in a row, the third time total since the start of his professional career.