Shakur Stevenson says he expects his opponent Artem Harutyunyan to “start running” from him when he begins punishing him in their headliner fight on ESPN this Saturday, July 6th, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Stevenson’s Prediction: A Case of Projection?
WBC lightweight champion Stevenson’s prediction that Harutyunyan (13-1, 7 KOs) will run from him is a classic example of him projecting his inside-the-ring actions onto his opponent to distance himself from facing the bitter truth.
Shakur (21-0, 10 KOs) needs to stop moving and focus on fighting because he must look good in this last fight under his contract with Top Rank. He’ll become a free agent after his fight with Harutyunyan.
A Change in Strategy Needed?
If Stevenson wants to get a sweet multi-million contract with another promotional, he’s got to stand in the center of the ring and go to war with Harutyunyan without using his typical hit-and-run style. If you’re one of the big promoters, you don’t want to sign a cancer, and you can’t get top fighters to want to face him.
Top Rank probably thought when they signed Shakur that his performance in his losing effort in the 2016 Olympic finals against Robeisy Ramirez was just a fluke thing and that he would become an entertaining fighter as a pro.
That hasn’t happened. Shakur’s fighting style has not changed since his amateur days, and now Top Rank’s experiment with him ends on Saturday.
The Pressure is On for Stevenson
“It depends on how tough he is and how much punishment he can take. I know he’s going to start running, and then I got to cut the ring,” said Shakur Stevenson to Top Rank Boxing, talking about Artem Harutyunyan.
It’s not going to work for Shakur to deflect criticism about his own hit-and-not-get-hit dull fighting style onto his opponent Harutyunyan because that’s not going to help him. Harutyunyan isn’t a runner, and he’s not going to start on Saturday facing a weak puncher like Shakur.
If Shakur wants that new mega-million contract from one of the promotional companies, he’s going to need to fight tooth and nail and risk getting knocked out. Harutyunyan isn’t a puncher, but it doesn’t matter. Shakur wouldn’t be a runner if he had a good chin.
“This dude is a good fighter. I think a lot of the public don’t know him. So they think how good he is. Right now, I think the mode that I’m in and what I’ve got going on in my brain, I want to come in and put punishment on him,” said Shakur about Harutyunyan.
It’s not too late for Shakur to impress one of the promoters to get that lucrative deal that he’s hoping for, but he’s got to put his chin on the line. The thing is, I don’t think Shakur can change his fighting style. It’s so firmly in place that he’ll instinctively pull back and retreat if Harutyunyan attempts to land anything.
Shakur has probably been fighting like this since he was a kid, and he can’t change even if he wanted. I don’t think he feels he needs to change, and that’s the tragedy.
If a new promotional company chooses to sign Shakur, it needs to be aware that he will not change his fighting style. As long they understand that this is as good as it gets with Shakur, they’ll be fine because they won’t expect him to become a big star.
“It may start out as a boxing match, and then I may start beating the s*** out of him. Understand, we’re going to get the job done by any means. In round six or seven, he’s going to start moving all around. I’ve got to cut the ring off a little bit,” said Shakur.
