Gervonta Davis’ assistant coach, Kenny Ellis, doubts Shakur Stevenson would beat #1 rated lightweight contender William Zepeda.
Top Rank has been protecting Shakur since he turned pro, but whoever signs him as a free agent will want him to fight a natural killer like Zepeda. That could be game over for Shakur.
Shakur’s Defensive Strategy May Not Be Enough
Ellis told Millcityboxng that Shakur would have to be able to “fight him off,” and he doesn’t think he could do that against a fighter like Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs), would cut off the ring on him, walk through his weak shots to knock him out.
Edwin De Los Santos failed to beat Shakur last November because he didn’t know how to cut off the ring against Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) when he was running from him. When he did catch up to Shakur, he was overly cautious and showed too much respect.
Zepeda is excellent at cutting off the ring on his opponents and is not afraid to get hit to land his combinations. Shakur would be in a lot of trouble against Zepeda, and his movement wouldn’t help him avoid getting trapped.
Stevenson’s Lack of Enthusiasm
Stevenson didn’t seem too excited last Saturday night about fighting Zepeda when his name was mentioned at the post-fight press conference after his win against Artem Harutyunyan at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
The only two fighters Shakur showed interest in fighting next were Gervonta Davis and Vasily Lomachenko, and those guys aren’t going to be his next opponent unless he plans on sitting out of the ring and waiting for a year or two for one of them to get freed up and fight him.
Shakur has the WBC belt, but he has yet to make a mandatory defense of it since winning it last year against De Los Santos. If the World Boxing Council orders Shakur to fight Zepeda, his time as a champion might be up. He’ll have to face him, or he’ll lose the title.
Other Contenders Pose a Bigger Threat
What fans saw last night against Harutyunyan and in Shakur’s fight against De Los Santos is a fighter who doesn’t possess the firepower to beat the best, and he’s living on borrowed time as the WBC belt-holder.
Again, he wouldn’t have been the champion if De Los Santos had known how to cut off the ring, shown Zepeda-like courage, and attacked Shakur. If either of those ingredients had been there, Shakur would have lost to De Los Santos.
The thing is, De Los Santos is nowhere near as good as some of the other contenders, such as Zepeda, Abdullah Mason, Andy Cruz, and Floyd Schofield. Those guys would be a nightmare for Shakur.
Promotional Companies Cautioned
Shakur is a risky investment. Promoters at PBC and Matchroom must be aware of Shakur’s vulnerability and forget about signing him because he won’t be worth the money unless it’s a one-fight deal to fight someone good.
That would be a cash-out because Shakur will get exposed, and his popularity, such as it is, will nosedive after he’s destroyed.
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