It appears we have a fight, as on September 5th, the date of the purse bid arrived with anticipation and now seemingly has signaled that the WBC lightweight title clash between Shakur Stevenson and Frank Martin will happen. The bout which was ordered by the WBC, gave the current available challengers to battle for the now-vacant WBC lightweight world title, as Stevenson is currently second in the rankings, and Martin is the fourth-ranked.
As first reported by Keith Idec of BoxingScene.com, the promoters of both Stevenson and Martin have come to terms with a deal, as Top Rank and TGB Promotions have come to an agreement that will see the vacant world title land on ESPN. ProBox TV News reached out to a source with information on the situation and the source confirmed the information was valid.
A rumored fight card to land the week of F1's 'Las Vegas GP' could be the date that this mega-fight lands as Top Rank CEO, Bob Arum, recently alluded to in an interview with FightHype.com. The car race will take place on the Las Vegas strip on November 18th, as a fight card could happen that evening or prior.
The fight is happening also because Devin Haney is seemingly looking to face Regis Prograis, the WBC junior welterweight world champion. Haney is currently the undisputed lightweight world champion but might be leaving the division for good if he fights Prograis. That said, Prograis-Haney was thought to happen in October, but now is being rumored for December which is a tad concerning given that is a big jump in terms of a timeline.
Another element and distinction is that Haney is 'champion-in-recess' for the WBC lightweight title. What does that mean? To our understanding, it simply means that Haney is unable to fight at the lightweight limit at the present time, and if Haney returned to lightweight he'd have to fight the winner.
Martin currently trains with Derrick James and is promoted by former unified welterweight world champion, Errol Spence Jr. Martin last fought Artem Harutyunyan in July on Showtime Championship Boxing, in which he won a close unanimous decision.
Stevenson has been functioning as the boogeyman of the sport struggling to land a lightweight fight since moving up in April. Stevenson is a two-division world champion, who unified world titles at the super featherweight division.
No word on a date or venue as of yet.
