By: Sean Crose
He is considered one of the best boxers in the world. Quick, hitting hard, extremely confident in the ring, Shakur Stevenson has a number of certainties, hard to define but conspicuous, that have marked him for possible greatness. Now, the WBC has ordered him to take on Isaac Cruz in a world title knockout. That means the winner will go on to face the reigning WBC lightweight champion. At the moment, that opponent is undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney, although Haney is said to be lining up to take on Vasyl Lomachenko.
The rationale here is that winner Haney-Lomachenko will face off against winner Stevenson-Cruz, as long as no one leaves the division during that time. Stevenson’s last fight 19-0 was UD’s win over Robson Conceicao in September. Cruz 24-2-1 was last seen in action that same month when he knocked out Eduardo Ramirez in the second half. .
The problem with the WBC ruling on Wednesday is that Stevenson and Cruz fight under different banners. Stevenson was promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rated Promotion. Cruz, on the other hand is a member of Al Haymon’s Premiere Boxing Champions. Suffice to say, both organizations are not known for having the warmest relationship. Fans only need to look back at the endless lead in the 2015 Floyd Mayweather-Many Pacquiao bout to understand how the frosty situation could play out. With that in mind, it’s safe to assume that Stevenson and Cruz may not see each other in the ring anytime soon.
The truth is that the lightweight division is now hot enough to scale. If only the main matches are available can be made. While that’s true Haney- Lomachenko will most likely come true, the same is unlikely for the much-anticipated battle between Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia at this point. Combine that with the very real possibility that Stevenson and Cruz might not have fallen and a snapshot of the contemporary boxing scene becomes very clear and ugly. High end fighters are out there. Advanced combat can be done. However, it seems more often than not that is the case.
