Eddie Hearn’s long-term interest in promoting Shakur Stevenson remains in doubt despite his glowing remarks about believing he’s a future “global superstar” in the making.
The relationship between the two will likely last as long as Shakur keeps winning. Once Stevenson suffers his first loss, he’ll be fish food, likely thrown overboard by the British promoter.
No ‘Red Carpet’ for Shakur
Some believe Hearn will abandon hopes of turning Shakur, 27, into a “global” star after he suffers his first loss. Stevenson likely won’t be given the red carpet treatment like Anthony Joshua with a four-fight fake rebuilding process after he loses.
AJ brings in total cash for his UK fights, and British fans will likely keep paying to watch him no matter how many times he’s beaten. Things are different in the U.S., especially if you have a boring, non-engaging fighting style like Shakur Stevenson. Americans don’t want to pay to watch fighters that run around the ring for 12 rounds like Shakur typically does.
AJ lost twice in a row, yet Hearn stuck by his side, showing loyalty and willingness to keep his career going by artificial methods by feeding him cans. Things will be different for Shakur. One loss may signal the end of his alliance with Hearn.
We’ll likely see Shakur dumped overboard by Hearn and given up after he’s knocked out by William Zepeda or Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.
Rebuilding Shakur, as Hearn has done with Joshua, would require investment in money, time, and patience. If Shakur were a massive PPV attraction like AJ in the UK, Hearn would be on board with refurbishing him after Zepeda or Tank Davis transformed him into dust. That’s not the reality of this situation.
Shakur Can’t Sell
Shakur can’t sell tickets, and he’s not a PPV attraction. Hearn will see for himself next month when Shakur headlines the undercard against Joe Cordina on October 12th on PPV for $14.99.
Hearn won’t want to deal with the headaches involved with overpaying contenders to agree to fight Shakur, and he definitely will not be interested in overpaying for mismatches.
If Hearn thinks that it was a nightmare to try and set up fights for IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis against the champions at 147, just wait and see what it’ll be like for him trying to get fights for Shakur at 135 after Zepeda or Tank beats him.
Without His Excellency Turki Alalshikh helping out to finance getting opponents for Shakur, I don’t see Hearn wanting to come up with the money to rebuild Shakur after he’s blasted into the next galaxy by Zepeda or Tank.
Must-win Fights
Matchroom promoter Hearn has a three-fight plan for WBC lightweight champion Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs):
- Joe Cordina
- William Zepeda
- Gervonta Davis
There’s an excellent chance that Shakur’s short run as one of Hearn’s Matchroom stable fighters will end with his fight against Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs). We’ve already seen Hearn give up on American fighters in the past after they failed to become stars for him. One example was Demetrius Andrade.
Hearn made a superficial effort to turn him into a star, matching him against mainly domestic-level British fighters and then choosing not to renew Andrade’s contract when he failed to gain popularity. He was genuinely obtuse about how he’d fumbled the job with Demetrius, and now he’s doing the same thing with Shakur.
Stevenson has never fought a pressure fighter who throws as many punches, cuts off the ring, and possesses Zepeda’s power. I see Shakur losing that fight and completely demolished in a one-sided affair.
It’ll be interesting for three rounds, but Zepeda will catch up to Shakur by the fourth round and knock him out just as he did with the mover Giovanni Cabrera on July 6th.
🔥 @ShakurStevenson in the lab 🥼🧪
📸 via shakurstevenson/IG pic.twitter.com/0nxbLrvOGT
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) September 8, 2024
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