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Shakur Stevenson stripped of WBC world title days after Teofimo Lopez victory

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Shakur Stevenson is no longer WBC Lightweight World Champion.

The 28 year old from Newark won the vacant WBC strap back in November of 2023 with a victory over Edwin De Los Santos. Despite becoming champion in a third division that night, his performance was widely criticised as too safety-first.

In his first defence, the only fight he had in 2024, Stevenson put on a similar showing against Artem Harutyunyan before stopping late replacement Josh Padley in February 2025. His stock rose significantly when taking on pressure fighter William Zepeda that July, retaining the belt for a third time in a much more fan-friendly affair.

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This past weekend, the defensive master moved up to super-lightweight to challenge Teofimo Lopez, winning all but one round on the scorecards in a truly elite performance.

Though his next move is undecided – he has been discussing yet another jump up to compete at welterweight – what is now clear is that he won’t be defending the WBC belt at 135lbs. The sanctioning body today released the following statement:

“On January 31, 2026, WBC World Lightweight Champion Shakur Stevenson gave a brilliant performance to defeat WBO World Super Lightweight Champion Teofimo López. Champion Stevenson is now a 4-time World Champion; a feat achieved by a few boxers in history. Among those boxers we find Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Canelo Alvarez and Terrence Crawford.

“Throughout his career, Champion Stevenson has maintained a historic and extraordinarily successful relationship with the WBC. His ascent to the top began in January 2019, when he captured the WBC Continental Americas title; signaling the start of a career destined for greatness.

“In 2022, Stevenson solidified his elite status by defeating Oscar Valdez to become the WBC Super Featherweight Champion. Subsequently, in 2023, he moved up to the lightweight division to claim the Green and Gold belt; a title he defended with pride and technical mastery on three consecutive occasions.

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“In light of Champion Stevenson now being the reigning WBO Super Lightweight World Champion and consistent with the WBC Rules & Regulations, the WBC has declared vacant its Lightweight World title.

“The WBC wishes Champion Stevenson continued success in all his future endeavors, both inside and outside the ring.

“The WBC will provide further information regarding the process to crown a new Lightweight World Champion in the near future.”

Stevenson may consider sticking around at 140lbs to defend his newly won WBO strap, though he seems focused more on major names rather than mandatories. Post-fight, as well as targetting Conor Benn at 147, he has named Isaac Cruz as a potential opponent, while also saying he would be willing to face Devin Haney.

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Rangers fans irate over return from Artemi Panarin’s blockbuster trade to LA Kings

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New York Rangers fans on social media voiced their frustration with team management over the return for Artemi Panarin.

After months of speculation, Panarin was finally dealt to the LA Kings on Wednesday. As part of the transaction, the Blueshirts received forward prospect Liam Greentree along with a conditional third-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft.

Artemi Panarin waived his full no-movement clause to join the Kings, while the Rangers retained 50% of his salary, as he was in the final year of his seven-year, $81.5 million contract. Panarin signed a two-year, $22 million extension ($11M AAV) with the Kings immediately after the trade.

Many Rangers fans on X (formerly called Twitter) were furious with the return they received in the deal. One tweeted:

“What a f****** disgrace. Chris Drury is the worst GM of all time. Fire him for his sabotage. f*** Chris Drury.”

@NYRangers WHAT A FUCKING DISGRACE CHIRS DRURY IS THE WORST GM OF ALL TIME FIRE HIM FOR HIS SABOTAGE FUCK CHRIS DRURY

Another chimed in:

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“Chris Drury is a joke of a GM.”

Here are some of the other top reactions on X:

“Drury is the worst thing to happen to this franchise. Genuinely a pathetic disgrace,” a third fan wrote.

“The dark side of a NMC rears its ugly head,” one X user wrote.

“We don’t care. Fire your GM. He sucks,” another opined.

“What a garbage return. Well, that should be Drury’s job. He needs to be the next one out the door. Wishing Panarin all the best wherever he goes. I hope Drury has screwed the NYR faithful for the last time,” another chimed in.

LA Kings GM shares his thoughts on Artemi Panarin’s trade

Following the trade, LA Kings GM Ken Holland addressed the media to share his thoughts. He said that Artemi Panarin did not want to be a rental and that the Kings are happy he waived his no-movement clause for LA.

“Obviously, we made the deal today to make our team better,” Kings general manager Ken Holland said via NHL.com. “We signed him to a two-year extension. We weren’t going to do it as a rental. He didn’t want to go anywhere as a rental. He wanted to find a home, so we’re thrilled that he wanted to waive the no-trade (clause) to come to LA.”

He added:

“We’re happy that we were able to get him to a two-year extension, and after two years, I’m hoping that we’re working on another extension, but (I’ll) worry about that down the road.”

Artemi Panarin spent seven seasons with the Rangers. He has accumulated 57 points through 19 goals and 38 assists in 52 games, making him the leading scorer for the Blueshirts this season.

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