Newark, New Jersey be ready for some fast paced and action-packed boxing as Top Rank Boxing will present some of their best and brightest stars on April 8.
Top Rank will be brining Newark-native Shakur Stevenson to the Prudential Center to take on Shuichiro Yoshino in a 12-round WBC lightweight title eliminator.
In addition, there will be heavyweight knockout artist Jared “The Real Big Baby” Anderson taking on an opponent to be named. Fans will also have a chance to see rising lightweight and U.S. Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn Davis to go up against a fighter to be determined.
Stevenson-Yoshino and the returns of Anderson and Davis will be broadcast live on ESPN, ESPN, Deportes and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.
Tickets for the fight start at $55 and will go on sale Friday, Feb 10 at 1:00 p.m. and can be purchased through Ticketmaster.com.
“Shakur Stevenson is one of the most gifted fighters I’ve had the pleasure of promoting, and I look forward to seeing him once again fight in front of his incredible hometown fans in Newark,” said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum. “Yoshino is a tough fighter and won’t be deterred by the hostile crowd. Jared Anderson and Keyshawn Davis are two of the sport’s emerging superstars, and I can’t wait to see them back in the ring.”
“Following the overwhelming success of Shakur Stevenson’s return to Newark in September, we are thrilled to build on that momentum with another stacked Top Rank boxing card on Saturday, April 8th,” said Dylan Wanagiel, VP of Sports Properties & Special Events for Prudential Center. “As Shakur continues to rise the pound-for-pound rankings, we take great pride in being his home. We all witnessed just how much Shakur means to the City of Newark a few months ago, as the event sold the most tickets to a boxing event in our venue’s 15-year history. Alongside our world-class partners at Top Rank and ESPN, we look forward to raising the bar for boxing fans not only in New Jersey but across the globe.”
Stevenson (19-0, 9 KOs) have been able to win multiple championships as he has held the featherweight and junior lightweight belts. This will be a homecoming for Stevenson, who was able to dominate Robson Conceição in front of a crowd of 10, 107 fans at the Prudential Center.
That bout was the first time Stevenson had fought at the Prudential Center since July 2019, and that night was one of the more raucous hometown crowds for a fighter. Since then, Stevenson was able to win the WBO junior lightweight title with a 10-round knockout over Jamel Herring in October 2021, that was able to unify the division.
All of these bouts were able to lift Stevenson to another level in the world of boxing, as he then won the 2016 U.S. Olympic silver medal and is now on the top 10 for most pound-for-pound list.
“I am taking over the lightweight division and my run will start on April 8 in Newark. Shuichiro Yoshino is an undefeated fighter who was willing to step up and fight me when so many fighters were scared,” Stevenson said. “My last fight at the Prudential Center was just the start of what I’m building in Jersey. We are going to pack the Prudential Center again and show the world who the future of boxing really is.”
Yoshino (16-0, 12 KOs) is going to be a tough battle though, as he is the WBC’s No. 5 contender, and is a former Japanese lightweight champion, who has a 104-20 amateur record. He has been able to have seven defenses of his Japanese title, while rising to the rankings during a stellar 2022 season. in April, he was able to win a technical decision over former world champion Masayuki Ito. After that he was able to follow that up with a victory over sixth-round stoppage over Masayoshi Nakatani.
“I am very honored to be fighting in the U.S. for the first time. I’m extremely focused and motivated,” Yoshino said. “I’m looking forward to fighting the great two-division champion, Shakur Stevenson, in his hometown of Newark. I’ll be training hard leading up to the fight and look forward to showing the fans an exciting victory!”
Anderson (13-0, 13 KOs) is going to be a name to watch in the world of boxing, has been able to notch five consecutive second-round stoppages, including a win over Jerry Forrest in December.
Davis (7-0, 5 KOs) is a rising star in the world of boxing, as he was able to go to the Tokyo Olympics, and was able to win a silver medal along with a long-term promotional contract with Trop Rank. Since that contract signing, he was able to have a 4-0 record, including three stoppage victories.
The action-packed night will start with the undercard that includes undefeated Polish heavyweight Damian Knyba (10-0, 6 KOs) along with featherweight prospect Bruce “Shu Shu Carrington (6-0, 3 KOs) who will be in a six-round bout.
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