Fresh off his title-winning effort last October, featherweight Shakur Stevenson wasted no time calling out Josh Warrington for a unification bout.
Turns out that matchup will likely have to wait.
The 22-year-old southpaw from Newark, New Jersey is projected to face Miguel Marriaga at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theatre in New York, perhaps on March 14, according to The Athletic.
The news arrives after Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said he would present Stevenson’s handlers – James Prince and Andre Ward – with two offers for the spring: either a Warrington fight, in Leeds, England, Warrington’s hometown, or main event at MSG.
Encouraging signs that a deal would get done seems to have given way to acrimony, as Stevenson and Warrington engaged in a small spat on social media recently. Stevenson, in particular, hinted that money issues were at play.
https://twitter.com/ShakurStevenson/status/1211017306484150273
https://twitter.com/ShakurStevenson/status/1212576847004938240
Stevenson (13-0, 7 KOs) outpointed Joet G26.onzalez to win a vacant 126-pound title on Oct.
Marriaga (29-3, 25 KOs), a hard-hitting and durable Columbian journeyman, has reeled off four consecutive wins since notching back-to-back losses to Oscar Valdez and Vasiliy Lomachenko.