Shakur Stevenson Beats Artem Harutyunyan By Judges' Decision to Retain WBC Title

Shakur Stevenson moved his record to a perfect 22-0, defended his WBC lightweight championship and opened up a world of possibilities with a unanimous decision win over Artem Harutyunyan on Saturday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

It didn't take long for Stevenson to showcase why he was a massive favorite in the fight. His defense and movement made it hard for Harutyunyan to find his opponent. It might not have been the kind of start that fans were hoping to see, but it was a good example of how elite his defense is.

Stevenson started picking up steam by the middle rounds, turning his elite defense into some offense.

However, not everyone was impressed with Stevenson putting the fight on cruise control. The champion has been criticized for his low knockout rate. Analysts were calling on Stevenson to prove the doubters wrong.

Stevenson continued to push the pace a little more aggressively than usual, but still didn't open up enough to get the finish. It was the kind of performance that shows off just what Stevenson can do without necessarily winning him more fans.

The victory was Stevenson's first successful title defense in the lightweight division. He won the WBC crown with a unanimous decision victory over Edwin De Los Santos, giving him world titles in three different weight classes.

Despite Stevenson's success in the ring, a major pay-per-view bout has been elusive for the 27-year-old.

Stevenson chalks it up to Top Rank and promoter Bob Arum's handling of his lightweight career.

"Once I got to 135 pounds everything kind of slowed down. I feel as though [Top Rank] could have given me the Kambosos fight like they gave Lomachenko," Stevenson told Manouk Akopyan of Boxing Scene. "But they didn't do that. I felt that we could have put a little bit more pressure on Lomachenko to make the fight happen but they didn't do that. When I got to 135, my notoriety got bigger, and then things changed."

Top Rank also promotes Vasiliy Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr. The two lightweights met in May for the vacant IBF title with Lomachenko winning by 11th-round TKO.

The good news for Stevenson is that he's now a free agent. Arum hasn't closed the door on Stevenston returning to his promotion, per veteran boxing reporter Dan Rafael. However, there are multiple promotions who should be interested in signing the talented lightweight.

Stevenson has drawn criticism for a cautious and defensive style in the past. It's a warranted gripe, but he's also beaten every opponent thrown his way thus far. With several stars in the lightweight division it's only a matter of time before Stevenson gets his shot.