Deal made for Stevenson, Martin to fight for vacant WBC 135 title

Top Rank will put card on either Nov. 16 or Dec 9

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Top Rank and TGB Promotions made a deal on Tuesday for the mandated fight between Shakur Stevenson and Frank Martin, who will meet for the vacant WBC lightweight world title on a date to be determined, Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti told Fight Freaks Unite.

Top Rank, which has promoted Stevenson for his entire career, will promote the bout, which will headline an ESPN-televised card, Moretti said.

Moretti negotiated the fight with TGB Promotions president Tom Brown, who works with Martin along with Errol Spence Jr.’s Man Down Promotions and Premier Boxing Champions.

“We’re delighted to reach an agreement with Tom and PBC on this fight,” Moretti said. “It’s a great fight between two terrific fighters, both with extremely high level of skills here.”

The fight likely will take place either at an MGM property in Las Vegas on Nov. 16 (a Thursday night, three days before the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix on Nov. 19) or at Madison Square Garden in New York on Dec. 9 following ESPN’s broadcast of college football’s annual Heisman Trophy Award show from New York. That has been a regular slot for a Top Rank event on ESPN in recent years.

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Last month the WBC ordered Stevenson-Martin to fill its vacancy at 135 pounds. Stevenson was the mandatory challenger for undisputed champion Devin Haney, but he notified the WBC that he planned to move up to junior welterweight for his next fight to challenge WBC titleholder Regis Prograis, at which point the WBC belt was vacated and Haney was reclassified as its lightweight “champion in recess.”

Vasiliy Lomachenko, who plans to take the rest of the year off following his narrow decision loss to Haney in May, and Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz, who many believe is headed to a rematch with WBA “regular” lightweight titlist Gervonta Davis, were ahead of Martin in the WBC rankings, but when they passed on the title fight against Stevenson, Martin got the opportunity.

The WBC had given Stevenson and Martin until Tuesday to make a deal or a purse bid would have been held that afternoon. Had it gone to an auction, Stevenson would have been entitled to the lion’s share of a 60-40 split.

Stevenson (20-0, 10 KOs), 26, a former featherweight and unified junior lightweight titlist from Newark, New Jersey, became the mandatory challenger with a sixth-round knockout of then-unbeaten Japanese contender Shuichiro Yoshino in a final eliminator on April 8.

Fellow southpaw Martin (18-0, 12 KOs), 28, of Indianapolis, who is a Spence stablemate and shares reigning trainer of the year Derrick James with him, is coming off a unanimous decision against Artem Harutyunyan, which he punctuated with a 12th-round knockdown, on July 15 on Showtime.

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Stevenson: Mikey Williams/Top Rank

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