Shakur Stevenson Set For A Big Test In Gotham

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By Anthony “Zute” George

Shakur Stevenson is set to fight for the first time in 2020, as he is scheduled to defend the WBO featherweight title against Miguel Marriaga, Saturday at The Madison Square Garden Theater in New York City. Shakur was last seen inside the squared circle in October of 2019, where he went the full twelve rounds to defend his title against Joet Gonzalez. Miguel is sure to be a tough test for Shakur, he is a grizzled veteran who has been in there with the best in boxing.

Marriaga has gone twelve rounds against Nicholas Walters, Oscar Valdez, and the only time he has been stopped in a fight was against Vasyl Lomachenko, who is widely considered one of the best boxers on the planet. Marriaga, The Scorpion, has power in both hands, rips a good left hook to the body, and can boast that there is nothing that Shakur Stevenson will bring to the ring that he has not seen before and not sound unreasonable making that claim.

The one person who probably knows this better than anybody is Shakur. So, we should look for him to have a statement performance against his toughest foe to date. At least that is what he is going to try and do. Stevenson is a talented southpaw who has a flair for the dramatic. He won a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics at a time where the American men were just not placing. As a professional, Stevenson had been consistent against substantial competition, everyone he has faced has had a better than .500 record. But has he been spectacular?

There is more than one way that question can be answered. With that said, Shakur and his people have to realize he is competing in a juggernaut featherweight division. Talent such as Gary Russell, JR., Leo Santa Cruz, and Josh Warrington are fellow champions, top talent like Michael Conlan and Carl Frampton are also lurking around at the 126-pound division. Just winning will not be good enough for any of these featherweights. If Shakur ever decides to move up four pounds, impressive fighters such as Miguel Berchelt, Jamal Herring, and JoJo Diaz are waiting there for him; Santa Cruz may also feel more comfortable at that weight. If Stevenson wants to be in a position to face one of these great names, which means a big payday, so why would he not, then he has to force the situation by looking as great as these champions have.

It may be premature to be talking this way, as overlooking Miguel Marriaga would be a colossal mistake for Team Shakur. We have witnessed major upsets for what feels like about two years right now, so if anyone thinks that this fight is not worth our time is just not paying attention.

It is an intriguing matchup because Marriaga can crack with both hands, he is not completely incompetent as a boxer, and he definitely has experience against tough southpaws. Fighting out the southpaw stance, Shakur should be able to neutralize the anvil-like left hook to the body that Miguel likes to throw, but what answers will Shakur have against the straight right hand? Miguel also likes to dig a right hook to the ribcage. Shakur has been touched with this kind of punch in the past. Shakur has also been tagged a ‘slow starter’ by some boxing pundits.

A slow start against The Scorpion could equate to a disastrous start to 2020 for Shakur Stevenson.

How good is Shakur Stevenson? He is going to have to be extremely good to get passed this test Saturday night. The fact that Top Rank decided to match Shakur up so tough tells you how good they think he is. But the real answer can only come from the performance. This fight will be televised on ESPN. How will Shakur perform against what is promised to be a larger television audience?

Stay tuned…

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