Eddie Hearn thinks Shakur Stevenson could be “unbeatable.” The Matchroom promoter can’t wait to sign the unbeaten WBC lightweight champion Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) to his stable and work his match-making magic to transform him into a star.
Hearn’s Vision for Stevenson’s Stardom
Hearn hasn’t said who he wants to begin scheduling Shakur to fight if he successfully negotiates a deal to sign him because his stable at 135 consists of 2020 Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz, and he likely would beat him.
That’s not the type of opposition Shakur is dreaming of fighting, and they wouldn’t want to lose immediately in a non-PPV contest.
“Shakur Stevenson may be unbeatable. Shakur is brilliant. Sometimes, his style is not all-out aggressive, Arturo Gatti, but guess what? He’s winning these fights, fighting them the way he wants to fight,” said Eddie Hearn to Secondsout.
Shakur’s fighting style at 135 is safety-first because they punch harder and bigger than the opposition he’s been feasting on at 126 and 130. When Shakur fought in those weight classes, he had a size advantage over his opponents, allowing him to take their shots and score occasional knockouts.
At 135, Shakur can’t afford to fight aggressively against these fighters because they hit too hard, and they would knock him out. He’s a fish out of water at lightweight, so he’s forced to box more than he ever did in the other weight classes.
Dream Fights
“I think when you see him fight Tank, maybe even Zepeda, you’re going to see the best Shakur Stevenson,” Hearn said. “I know I can make him a star because that’s easy for me.”
Hearn likely won’t attempt to match Shakur against #1 William Zepeda until after he puts him in the money fight against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis. Once that fight is out of the way and Shakur likely soundly beaten, Hearn might pull the trigger on the Zepeda.
I doubt it, though. Hearn will need to rebuild Shakur as he did with Anthony Joshua after his second defeat against Oleksandr Usyk. He’ll match Shakur against three or four stiffs, build his confidence, create fake hype, and then push for a rematch with Tank Davis. In other words, it’s rinse and repeat. It’s just business.
“He rates extremely well on ESPN. As I understand it, it was a really good crowd in Newark,” said Hearn about the 8,000+ fans that showed up for Shakur’s fight against Artem Harutyunyan last Saturday night. The venue holds 18,000. So, there was not quite a half-full capacity for Shakur-Harutyunyan in Shakur’s hometown.
It’s difficult to take Hearn’s “unbeatable” comments seriously, given that Shakur barely beat Edwin Del Los Santos last year on November 16th, winning a twelve-round unanimous decision by the scores 115-113, 116-112, and 116-112.
The more accurate score of the three was 115-113, and that should have gone the other way in De Los Santos’ favor because he landed the harder punches in every round and was the one pushing the fight against Shakur, who was running from him.
This gamble may not end well for Hearn if he signs the 27-year-old Shakur, believing he’s going to build him into a “star” on the world stage, sell his fights on PPV to fans, thinking they’re going to happily purchase them to watch him run around the ring all night.
Shakur plays keep-away in his fights, and that’s not star material and definitely not a fighter that is “unbeatable.”
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