Arum: Shakur Stevenson is Gonna Be a 'Major, Major Star'
By Keith Idec
All it took was that first meeting with Shakur Stevenson a couple months ago to convince Bob Arum that Stevenson has star qualities most boxers don’t possess.
Intrigued by the Olympic silver medalist’s engaging personality as much as his talent, the legendary promoter predicts huge things for the skillful southpaw from Newark, New Jersey. The 19-year-old Stevenson will make his pro debut as part of a four-fight pay-per-view show April 22 in Carson, California.
Stevenson, who signed a multi-year contract with Arum’s Top Rank Inc. in February, is scheduled to oppose Phoenix’s Edgar Brito (3-2-1, 2 KOs) in his first professional fight, a six-rounder at StubHub Center. It’ll mark Stevenson’s return to the ring following his split-decision loss to Cuba’s Robeisy Ramirez in the 123-pound gold-medal match August 20 at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
“I really think that he is gonna be a major, major star in boxing,” Arum said during a conference call Friday to promote the April 22 card. “He has the talent, he has the personality. He’s managed by good people – James Prince and Andre Ward. I think the sky is the limit for him. And I’m really proud of this April 22nd card, to be introducing Shakur to professional boxing, and to have my three great, young champions defending their titles.
“These three young kids, I mean relatively young, Oscar [Valdez], Gilberto [Ramirez] and Jessie [Magdaleno], are tremendous young men, great, great fighters. They work their asses off. They really work hard. They’re great role models now that they’ve been fighting for four or five years or so, more than Shakur. They’re great role models for Shakur, so we’re looking for big things for all of them. As far as Shakur is concerned, I think he should emulate a guy like ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard, who was a great personality, as well as a great fighter.”
As part of the conference call Friday, Arum discussed the still-controversial Leonard-Marvin Hagler middleweight title fight because Thursday (April 6) is the 30-year anniversary of Leonard’s debatable split-decision win against Hagler in Las Vegas. Stevenson, who admitted to being torn when watching footage of the fight because Hagler called Newark his home until he was a teenager, said during the conference call that he scored their unforgettable fight 115-113 for Leonard.
As for Stevenson’s pro debut, he’ll open the aforementioned pay-per-view telecast, which will feature Valdez in the main event. Valdez (21-0, 19 KOs) is scheduled to defend his WBO world featherweight title against Colombia’s Miguel Marriaga (25-1, 21. KOs), his mandatory challenger.
Also April 22, Mexico’s Ramirez (34-0, 24 KOs), the WBO world super middleweight champion, is set to make an optional title defense against Ukraine’s Max Bursak (33-4-1, 15 KOs). The other televised fight that night will match WBO world super bantamweight champion Jessie Magdaleno (24-0, 17 KOs), of Las Vegas, against Brazil’s Adeilson Dos Santos (18-2, 14 KOs).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
