Shakur Stevenson (19-0, 9 KOs) faces Japan's Shuichiro Yoshino (16-0, 12 KOs) in a 12-round main event at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on ESPN.
Yoshino of Tokyo and Stevenson, who will headline in his hometown venue for the third time, meet each other in a WBC lightweight elimination bout. Any winner will be forced to face completely unified 135-pound champion Devin Haney or former three-division champion Vasiliy Lomachenko.
Yoshino, 31, has advanced in the WBC lightweight rankings with impressive back-to-back victories over boxers from his own country of Japan.
In his most recent fight, which took place on November 1 of 2022 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, Yoshino defeated Masayoshi Nakatani in the sixth round. A 12-round unanimous decision victory over Teofimo Lopez and a ninth-round technical knockout victory over Vasyl Lomachenko were Nakatani's only losses in his career.
The 25-year-old Stevenson is two slots ahead of Yoshino in third place among lightweight contenders according to the WBC.
Stevenson is fighting in Newark for the second time in a row. On September 23 at Prudential Center, the deft southpaw defeated Brazil's Robson Conceicao in a title bout spanning 12 rounds and 130 pounds.
Watch the official weigh-in live on YouTube: Watch
In the undercard, a 10-round lightweight fight between Norfolk, Virginia's top prospect Keyshawn Davis (7-0, 5 KOs) and veteran Emmanuel Tagoe of Ghana (32-2, 15 KOs) takes place.
In the co-main event of the evening, unbeaten heavyweight Jared “The Real Big Baby” Anderson (13-0, 13 KOs) will face George Arias (18-0, 7 KOs) in a 10-rounder.
The main event is expected to begin at around 11:00 PM ET.
Main card:
▪️Shakur Stevenson vs. Shuichiro Yoshino, 12 rounds, WBC lightweight title eliminator ▪️Jared Anderson vs. George Arias, 10 rounds, heavyweights ▪️Keyshawn Davis vs. Anthony Yigit, 10 rounds, lightweights
Preliminary card:
▪️Damian Knyba vs. Curtis Harper, 8 rounds, heavyweight ▪️Troy Isley vs. Roy Barringer, 8 rounds, middleweight ▪️Bruce Carrington vs. Brandon Chambers, 6 rounds, featherweight ▪️Kelvin Davis vs. Nelson Morales, 6 rounds, junior welterweight ▪️Antoine Cobb vs. Jaylan Phillips, 4 rounds, super lightweight
