Promoter Eddie Hearn says if he signs free agent Shakur Stevenson to his Matchroom stable, the first fight he wants to match him against is his #1 WBC challenger, William Zepeda.
(Credit: Amanda Westcott/Matchroom)
Zepeda: A Test of Stevenson’s Mettle and Marketability
Hearn states that he doesn’t want to sign fighters to long-term deals with Matchroom and not have fights for them. Although he didn’t come right out and say it, he appears to have concerns about being able to produce marketable fights for Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs), who would be a cancer for Matchroom if his fights fail to attract viewers and bring in new subscribers to DAZN.
The only name Hearn talks about for Shakur is William Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs), a Golden Boy fighter who fights on DAZN. That would likely be a test case to see how Shakur performs and whether he brings in subscribers on DAZN.
The Importance of Marketability
If he loses, looks poor, or his fights fail to draw numbers, he won’t be worth Hearn’s giving him a long-term contract because he would be another fighter in his stable who can’t draw. Hearn already has a fighter with an identical safety-first fighting style to Shakur, Richardson Hitchins. He’s not popular, and his fights are considered boring in the eyes of many fans.
“When someone is spinning a narrative about being boring, then they’re going to jump over every performance,” said Eddie Hearn to Fighthype about Shakur Stevenson. “You can’t really win, and I feel for Shakur because he’s a one-man band.
“He needs someone that is going to fight those fights for him,” said Hearn about Shakur needing someone who will fight the legion of critics on social media, as if that were humanly possible without shutting down the Internet.
Hearn can’t fight Shakur’s fights for him. No one can. There are too many critics on the social media, perhaps in the millions, and Hearn doesn’t have enough employees with his Matchroom company to put out the fires on X and Instagram.
Even if a bot were created to say positive stuff about Shakur everywhere, people would continue to roast him on a daily.
“I think he’s going to look even better against fighters that come to fight and have similar qualities,” said Hearn.
Shakur already fought fighters that came forward and looked terrible against Edwin De Los Santos, Jeremian Nakakthilia, and Joet Gonzalez. The only aggressive fighters that Shakur looked good against were faded older fighters, Oscar Valdez and Jamel Herring.
Hearn needs to sit down, have a clear mind, and watch Shakur’s fight against De Los Santos again before signing him. If he still signs Shakur, he should make it a one-fight deal and put him in with William Zepeda or Andy Cruz. If he looks poor against either of those guys, wash his hands of him and move on.
The Zepeda Fight
“I personally feel that William Zepeda fight is a great fight for him. He’s also a DAZN fighter, so that’s a fight we could look to make,” said Hearn.
Zepeda is a good test fight for Shakur because he’s likely to lose, and if he does win, he’ll look poor by running from him, as he did against De Los Santos. Either way, Hearn will learn all he needs to determine whether to give Shakur a longer contract. Hearn must beware because he might not like what he discovers from that fight.
“Also, there was a big crowd in Newark, and it was the biggest ratings on ESPN this year. People don’t like to champion that kind of information too much. If he were with us, I’d be telling the world that kind of thing,” said Hearn.
Shakur has that Floyd Mayweather Jr. quality where people want to watch him because they want to see him lose. He’s like a poor man’s Mayweather, not as talented as Floyd was when he was old, and nowhere his level when he was younger. But outside the ring, Shakur’s arrogant attitude is identical to Floyd’s.
“We’ll see. He’s coming here Saturday night. We’d love to work with him. It has to work for Matchroom. It has to work for Shakur. To bring him to the roster would be a great catch,” said Hearn.
“A lot of these promotional companies like to tie you down for three years, four years, five years. It could be a one-fight deal. It could be a two-fight deal. It could be a five-fight deal. It’s got to work for us as well as Shakur,” said Hearn.
Hearn can’t give Shakur a long-term contract because he doesn’t have the stable of talent to match against him. If Hearn signs Shakur, he’ll immediately become unhappy, grumble to the media about him not getting him the fights he wants, and become a cancer.
What Hearn Can Offer Shakur
Andy Cruz
Liam Paro
Richardson Hitchins
Jack Catterall
Regis Prograis
Subriel Matias
Shakur is not going to be happy fighting any of those guys, and he might lose to some. There were rumors that Liam Paro hurt Shakur in sparring.
Andy Cruz has the boxing skills to give Shakur fits; if he doesn’t beat him, he would make him miserable in a tough fight. That would also lower Shakur’s stock and make him useless for Hearn.
“What I also don’t want to do is bring in talent like that on board and not be able to deliver fights for him. That’s why I like the Zepeda fight. I think it’s a fight that is achievable with DAZN and Golden Boy, and it’s a great fight as well,” said Hearn.
“That would be the first port of call. Fights like Tank. Maybe moving up and fighting Teofimo. Who knows if those fights are achievable, but the risk for Shakur is not getting those fights,” said Hearn.
Read the full article here
