A proposed championship match between Shakur Stevenson and Frank Martin will have a sound date to do well in the headlines. The fight is expected to take place either November 16 in Las Vegas or December 9 in New York, according to ESPN.
Shakur Stevenson Vs. Frank Martin Targeted For Late 2023
According to ESPN, the sides reached an agreement with one another for either November 16 in Las Vegas or December 9 in New York.
The WBC lightweight championship is expected to be on the line later this year when Shakur Stevenson and Frank Martin square off.
Both of those dates have some strong pull for the broadcast.
If the fight takes place in November, it would be centered around the debut of Formula 1 Grand Prix in Las Vegas. If it is pushed back to December, it would likely air following the presentation of the Heisman Trophy, which goes yearly to the top college football player.
Shakur Stevenson Boxing Resume
Stevenson is 20-0 with 10 wins by knockout in his career. The 26-year-old native of Newark, New Jersey has won titles at both 126 and 130 pounds.
He won gold at both the 2014 Youth Olympic Games and Youth World Championships before claiming silver at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Stevenson started his professional career a year later, winning his first title in 2019. That was the IBF Inter-Continental and WBC Continental Americas featherweight titles, with his first big belt coming later that year with the decision over Joet Gonzalez that resulted in the WBO featherweight title.
He won the interim super featherweight belt in 2021 and was declared the official champion by WBO with a win over Jamel Herring.
Last year, Stevenson topped Robson Conceicao for the WBC, WBO and The Ring super featherweight titles, but was not allowed to leave with the belts after missing weight. He took care of Shuichiro Yoshino in April.
Shakur Stevenson Highlights
Frank Martin Boxing Resume
Martin is also unbeaten over 18 fights with 12 of those coming by knockout. Two years older than Stevenson, he topped Artem Harutyunyan this past July.
Like Stevenson, Martin was an amateur standout, winning gold in 2016 at Golden Gloves and taking silver at the National Championships.
He turned pro in 2017 but has yet to compete for a championship belt since doing so. Along with his win over Harutyunyan, he has also bested Michel Rivera, Jackson Marinez and Romero Duno since the start of 2022.
Devin Haney is the undisputed lightweight champion in boxing but he has agreed to move up to 140 pounds to face Regis Prograis later this year. Haney remains the WBC champion in recess with either Stevenson or Martin claiming the title.
