The scheduled fight between Shakur Stevenson and Shuichiro Yoshino that is set for this weekend on the 8th of April at the Prundential Center in Newark, New York, has officially been announced to be a WBC final eliminator which will see the winner become the mandatory opponent to the winner between Devin Haney and Vasyl Lomachenko.
The match-up between Shakur Stevenson (19-0, 9 KO’s) and Shuichiro Yoshino (16-0, 12 KO’s) will feature two undefeated Lightweights going up against each other in a high-stakes battle to become the next contender in the division. Though the final eliminator was first announced in November of last year between Shakur Stevenson and Isaac Cruz (24-2-1, 17 KO’s), the latter avoided the fight and is apparently considering a move up towards 140 pounds instead.
The WBC has now decided to turn the bout between Stevenson and Yoshino into a final eliminator to help determine a mandatory opponent for whoever wins between Devin Haney (29-0, 15 KO’s) and Vasyl Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KO’s).
Japanese contender Shuichiro Yoshino will be participating in his first world title fight. Being undefeated, he has impressed as of late with a three-match stoppage/knockout streak, and even more caught the eye of the public when he stopped fellow Japanese Lightweight Masayoshi Nakatani (20-3, 14 KO’s) ― handing his Japanese contemporary his third loss, and his second stoppage or knockout defeat.
It will also be the first time Yoshino is fighting outside of his country of Japan after having spent his entire career fighting on home ground against mostly other Japanese fighters. Despite his rather modest resume, Shuichiro Yoshino is one of the best Lightweight products to come out of Japan, and comes equipped with an illustrious amateur career that saw him transition to the pro ranks seamlessly.
Shakur Stevenson will be making his debut at Lightweight after successful stints at 130 lbs and 126 lbs, the former in which he became a unified champion and the latter in which he propelled himself to become a world champion for the first time of his career.
He is widely regarded as one of the best American fighters in the world, despite his youthful age of 25, and is considered ― next to Gervonta Davis (28-0, 26 KO’s) ― to the most likely candidate to defeat Devin Haney if they ever come to blows. Next to his accomplishments, Shakur Stevenson is also tremendously skilled and is now in the perfect position to continue his dominance at a higher weight class if he manages to beat Shuichiro Yoshino.
The match will likely be a firecracker and provide an intriguing technical match-up where both fighters have a lot to win. Though Shakur Stevenson’s advanced resume leaves him with much more to lose if he stumbles upon a defeat, Shuichiro Yoshino is as dangerous a fighter as he could meet in the ring, and an equal match to the likes of Isaac Cruz and William Zepeda (27-0, 23 KO’s) who are considered to be amongst the top 10 or top 15 of best Lightweights in the world ― and have both seemed to avoid fighting Shakur Stevenson.
