Promoter Bob Arum (Top Rank) commented on the decision of the WBC to sanction a lightweight qualifying fight between American Shakur Stevenson (19-0, 9 KOs) and Mexican Isaac Cruz (24-2-1, 17 KOs).
Boss Top Rank
claimsthat he is ready to do this fight for Shakur, but Cruz will definitely refuse him – a fighter Premier Boxing Champions Al Haymon: “I am 100% ready. But I don’t think this fight will take place. I don’t think Cruz wants to fight Shakur. It is for this reason that I strongly doubt this whole undertaking. I think Stevenson will go the other way, because there are other organizations, not only the WBC. I guess Cruz will fight someone else in the eliminator. But this does not mean that we refuse to fight. I will contact[Cruz’s main promoter]Sean Gibbons because Shakur is ready to fight anyone.”
According to Arum, there is no intrigue in this fight, because only selected fighters can cause problems to Stevenson: “Stevenson is just a fantastic fighter. And so I’m not even going to blame Cruz for anything. It’s understandable that he doesn’t want to fight him. Only the top players will have chances against Shakur. Fighters like Devin Haney and Vassily Lomachenko. And all the rest is a trifling matter for Shakur. That’s how good he is.”
Previously, Shakur has already given the go-ahead for a fight with Cruz. And Haney and Lomachenko are still busy – negotiations have begun on their face-to-face fight. Champion’s father comments.