WBO featherweight champion Shakur Stevenson's wish for a fight against Josh Warrington is still being planned for the summer but promoter Bob Arum is looking to give Stevenson a fight before that.
Arum spoke to ESPN and admitted that there are plans in play to have Stevenson headline a March Top Rank show at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, possibly against former title challenger Miguel Marriaga. Afterwards, the focus would then be on making a fight against Warrington, the IBF featherweight champion, for May 14 at Elland Road in Leeds, England, where Warrington won the IBF title in 2018.
There is also the possibility of Stevenson fighting either in the U.S. in March or wait until May for the fight in England or even fight on both dates.
"There's no reason he can't fight in March and then again in May in the U.K. or maybe in June against Warrington," Arum said.
It's no secret that Stevenson had been targeting a fight against Warrington for a long time, even before he defeated Joet Gonzalez in October to capture the WBO title. Stevenson had always planned to fight for a world title in 2019, telling Fightful in April that and mentioning Warrington as the champion he wanted to face.
Warrington has held the IBF title since a split decision win against Lee Selby in May 2018. Afterwards, Warrington scored decision wins against Carl Frampton and Kid Galahad in his first two title defenses and most recently, stopped Sofiane Takoucht on October 12 with a second-round TKO victory.
