Shakur Heavily Favored in Defense Vs Harutyunyan
Stevenson vs Harutyunyan Odds are Wide Apart
Controversial boxer Shakur Stevenson is a -3000 favorite with Stevenson vs Harutyunyan odds for Saturday’s fight. He won the vacant WBC lightweight belt against Edwin De Los Santos, and now he looks to defend it for the first time against Artem Harutyunyan.
It’s the best of the upcoming boxing matches, and it could shape the lightweight division.
Stevenson vs Harutyunyan
Records: Shakur Stevenson (21-0, 10 KOs) vs Artem Harutyunyan (12-1, 7 KOs)
Date & Time: Sunday, Jul 6, 2024, 8:30 pm ET
Location: Prudential Center in Newark, NJ
Stream:
No Changes Needed for Shakur
The career of Stevenson hasn’t always been smooth sailing, including losing the WBC and WBO titles after failing to make weight. However, despite some unprofessionalism on his part, the 27-year-old American has more ability than most.
Stevenson is the second-ranked fighter in the division, and although his fight against De Los Santos was closer than expected, he shouldn’t have much problem beating Harutyunyan, hence the odds.
Stevenson vs Harutyunyan odds have the underdog at +1000, so Stevenson is expected to roll through the challenger. At 21-10, Stevenson has bigger fights on the horizon, and boxing betting odds don’t come much shorter than -3000.
He doesn’t have the best crowd support due to his antics, but he believes he deserves more credit.
“Several times I put out great performances and you have one bad night and everybody act like you’re not that guy,” Stevenson said. “They forgot about the Jemell Herring performance, they forgot about me vs Oscar Valdez, they forgot about Yoshino.”
We can’t see many bettors taking a -3000 line with Stevenson. There is better value with boxing prop bets, which have him at -125 to win by KO and also -125 to win by decision.
Can Harutyunyan Put Up a Fight?
Ranked 44th in the world, Harutyunyan isn’t expected to win the fight, but can he go 12 rounds with Stevenson? The 33-year-old German looks nothing more than a roadblock for Stevenson, and his recent fights haven’t been good. He comes off a loss to Frank Martin, and although it was a close decision, he would need to improve on that effort.
To his credit, Martin did not knock him out, and Stevenson isn’t known as a power puncher. However, we don’t want Harutyunyan to have the strategy of just trying to survive. This will be his only title chance, and being a punching bag for 12 rounds isn’t a good way to make money in the future.
His fight against Martin was a massive step up in class, and one judge had it 114-113 to Martin. It was close, so if he could produce something similar, he could steal some rounds from the champion.
Stevenson vs Harutyunyan odds give him no chance of winning, but Stevenson is respecting his opponent.
“Artem is dangerous. He’s a good fighter. Now he’s training at Top Rank gym,” Stevenson said. “I know it’s a dangerous fight. This guy is coming to win. The casuals and the people in the public may not know him, but there’s a bullseye on my back. I’m fighting an Olympian.”
Harutyunyan has a +5000 chance to win by decision, which is surprising. He went the distance with Martin, and only seven of his 12 wins came by knockout.
He has a +2000 chance to win by knockout, but Stevenson is unlikely to take many chances in this fight.
Stevenson To Work for 12 Rounds
We don’t think it will be an easy win for Stevenson, but he should come out ahead on the judges’ scorecards.
He has class on his side, and he’s looking towards much bigger fights against opponents who are ranked in the top five.
Harutyunyan isn’t one of those guys, but because he went 12 rounds against Martin, we’re happy to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Bettors get -125 for Stevenson to win by decision with Stevenson vs Harutyunyan odds, and those odds are much better than the -3000 to win outright.
It’s a generous line from the sportsbook, and although there is always a threat of a knockout, Stevenson has only 10 KO’s from 21 fights. We think he’s a much better boxer when he goes to the body.
Expect his work rate to be high, and he’ll be happy to secure an easy points victory.
| Team | Handicap |
|---|---|
| Harutyunyan | +1000 |
| Stevenson | -3000 |
