Shakur Stevenson vs. Artem Harutyunyan: Tale of the Tape

We take a closer look at Shakur Stevenson and Artem Harutyunyan as they prepare to go head-to-head in a lightweight title clash in New Jersey on July 6.

The WBC lightweight belt is on the line when American Stevenson makes the first defense of his title against Armenian-born German Artem Harutyunyan.

The showdown is the co-main event on the July 6 bill, alongside O'Shaquie Foster's WBC super featherweight title clash against Robson Conceicao.

New Jersey-born Stevenson will be fighting on home territory at the familiar surroundings of the Prudential Center, where he has beaten Conceicao and Shuichiro Yoshino in recent years.

Fighter Bio	Shakur Stevenson	Artem Harutyunyan
Odds:	-2500	+1100
Age:	26	33
Nickname:	-	The Original
Height:	5ft 8”	5ft 7.5”
Reach:	68”	-
Weight division:	Lightweight	Lightweight
Record:	21-0 (10 KOs)	12-1 (7 KOs)
Titles:	WBC lightweight	None
Last Fight:	W (UD) Edwin De Los Santos (November 2023)	L (UD) Frank Martin (July 2023)

Read Shakur Stevenson vs. Artem Harutyunyan fight date, ring walk time, how to watch, undercard & odds on site.

Shakur Stevenson In Profile

Born in Newark, Stevenson took up boxing when just five years old with his grandfather Wali Moses an early influential figure.

Stevenson represented the United States at the 2016 Olympics and, after winning the silver medal at Bantamweight, turned pro soon after.

He remains unbeaten after 21 fights, with 10 of the 26-year-old’s victories coming via KO, and he's a former world champion in two weight classes, having previously held the WBO's featherweight title and the WBC and WBO junior lightweight titles.

Stevenson secured the WBO featherweight title with a unanimous decision win over Joet Gonazalez in 2019 and claimed the WBO junior lightweight belt against Jamel Herring with a TKO win in 2021.

In April 2022, Stevenson defeated Oscar Valdez to unify the WBC and vacant The Ring super-featherweight titles with his WBO belt, winning by unanimous decision.

Stevenson is 4-0 in title fights but was criticized for his performance in his most-recent appearance against Edwin De Los Santos in Las Vegas, when he fought for much of the contest on the back foot.

However, he won by unanimous decision, with scores of 115–113, 116–112 and 116–112 on the night.

Stevenson appeared to announce his retirement in January amid reports he was unhappy Emanuel Navarrete had opted to fight Denys Berinchyk instead of challenging him for his title but then in February he again took to social media to inform his fans he would be back in the ring this summer.

He is the overwhelming favorite for the upcoming bout against Harutyunyan in what will be the first defense of his WBC lightweight belt and Stevenson is sure to feel comfortable back at the Prudential Center in his native New Jersey, where he saw off Conceicao and Yoshino in September 2022 and April 2023 respectively.

Strengths	Weaknesses
Experience	Can be too defensive
Form	Commitment
Speed
Durability
Jab

Artem Harutyunyan in profile

Harutyunyan was born in Armenia but has German nationality after representing them at the 2016 Olympics. He has a record of 12 victories, of which seven have come by KO, and one defeat in his 13 fights.

Harutyunyan won the bronze medal in the light-welterweight bracket in Rio and turned professional a year later with his first victory coming on points against Avelino Vazquez in Hamburg, where he is based, in November of that year.

Victories over Argentinian Hugo Alfredo Santillan and Islam Dumanov saw his profile rise, before a split-decision win over Vladyslav Melnyk in April 2021 landed Harutyunyan the vacant WBA International lightweight title.

'The Original' secured the vacant WBC International lightweight title when knocking out Spaniard Samuel Molina in the fifth round in September 2021 and he defeated American Humberto Galindo by unanimous decision in June 2022 to retain his strap.

However, the 33-year-old suffered his first loss last time out when going down to a unanimous decision defeat to Frank Martin in Las Vegas in his first fight outside Germany.

He will now be aiming to bounce back against Stevenson and he did acquit himself well overall against Martin to suggest he can cause his July opponent problems, although it would still be a major shock were he to come out on top.

Strengths	Weaknesses
Technique	Lack of experience at world level
Defence	Movement
Aggressive style

This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.