Shakur Stevenson, Frank Martin Reportedly Agree to Lightweight Fight in Las Vegas
September 5, 2023
Representatives for Shakur Stevenson and Frank Martin reached an agreement for their interim lightweight championship fight, according to Keith Idec of BoxingScene.com.
ESPN's Mike Coppinger reported the pair are expected to meet Nov. 16 in Las Vegas or Dec. 9 in New York City.
Mark Kriegel of ESPN first reported in August the WBC ordered Stevenson and Martin to fight with Devin Haney now considered the champion in recess. The matchup would've gone to a purse bid if a deal wasn't struck by Tuesday's deadline.
Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix reported that Top Rank, which represents Stevenson, will be the lead promoter for the upcoming event.
Stevenson and Martin are second and fourth, respectively, in the WBC's lightweight rankings.
To crown an interim champion, Martin became the most logical opponent for Stevenson after Top Rank's Bob Arum said Vasiliy Lomachenko, the WBC's top-ranked lightweight challenger, was "balking about fighting this year." The 35-year-old Ukrainian is concerned with the ongoing invasion of his home country by Russia.
Stevenson or Martin will be headed toward his first professional loss since both sport perfect records. The former is 20-0 with 10 knockouts, while the latter is 18-0 with 12 stoppages.
Stevenson is coming off a sixth-round TKO of Shuichiro Yoshino in April. Martin's last appearance in the ring saw him earn a unanimous decision over Artem Harutyunyan in July.