Frank Martin reportedly will not fight Shakur Stevenson, at least not anytime soon.
The lightweight contenders were believed to have reached a deal for a bout in the fall. However, according to Fight Freaks Unite, Martin decided not to go through with the fight.
The outlet cited Todd duBoef of Top Rank, Stevenson’s promoter.
“We agreed to terms for the fight and we sent them a contract and now the guy doesn’t want the fight,” duBoef said. “These guys can talk all they want on social media and say this and that, that they’ll whip Shakur’s butt, but they don’t want these fights.
“It’s a disappointment for the sport. You get these guys chirping everywhere and talking smack and then this guy gets the opportunity he said he wanted, we send the contract we agreed to and then he turns down seven figures. Give me a break.”
Stevenson (20-0, 10 KOs) evidently will fight someone else soon.
“We’ll figure something out. Shakur will still fight,” duBoef said. “Why should he be punished? He will fight anyone. Everyone knows that.”
Steveson, No. 13 on Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list and a former titleholder at 126 and 130 pounds, is coming off a sixth-round knockout of Shuichiro Yoshino in his debut as a full-fledged 135-pounder on April 8.
Martin (18-0, 12 KOs) is a rising contender. He last fought on July 15, when he outpointed Artem Harutyunyan in a competitive fight.
