Free agent Shakur Stevenson and promoter Floyd Mayweather Jr. had a Facetime conversation, leading some people to believe this could be the next destination for the freed-up Newark native.
Mayweather’s Appeal and Potential Pitfalls
Mayweather has the money to sign Shakur, but the question is whether that’s a good spot for him. Despite having little fan appeal and not being a PPV attraction, Stevenson, 27, wants the big fights out of his realm against Gervonta Davis, Vasily Lomachenko, Devin Haney, and Ryan Garcia.
Signing with Mayweather could help Shakur bag the big fish, Tank Davis, into his net. However, given the bad blood between Tank (30-0, 28 KOs) and Floyd, it could work against Shakur if he signs a contract with Mayweather Promotions. Why would Tank want to do Mayweather any favors by agreeing to fight Shakur Stevenson if he’s signed with him?
Besides all that, the careful way that Mayweather matched Tank Davis during his career, putting him in against fighters that were sure things, arguably stunted his career because he would have been a much bigger star if he had fought the killers for the last eight years rather than the tomato cans he did fight.
Although Tank eventually became a star, he did it despite the soft match-making that was done on his behalf when he was with Mayweather Promotions. He should have fought Vasily Lomachenko eons ago.
The last thing Shakur needs is to sign with a promoter who will spoon-feed him no-names to continue building up his inflated resume in hopes of turning him into a drawn star through sly match-making, hoping the public doesn’t catch on to the hustle.
Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs), the WBC lightweight champion, is looking for a new promoter after his contract with Top Rank expired with his last fight against Artem Harutyunyan last Saturday night.
Matchmaking Concerns and the PBC Option
If Stevenson signs with PBC, he could potentially have the chance to fight these guys:
- Gervonta Davis
- Frank Martin
- Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz
- Edwin De Los Santos: *Rematch
Whether those guys will want to fight Shakur is unclear. They might balk at the idea of fighting Shakur, given that he’s a runner and not an attraction, and the fans will likely boo their fight.
Financial Considerations and PBC’s Problem
It’s risky for PBC to sign Shakur Stevenson because they would likely put on PPV, and it could mess up their new gig with Amazon Prime Video if all of his fights bomb badly, turning in terrible viewing numbers.
PBC signing Shakur to bury him deep on undercards makes sense, but not for the kind of money he will want to ink a contract with them. If Shakur turned down $15 million to re-sign with Top Rank, he sure isn’t going to take less than that to sign with PBC.
For that kind of money, PBC would have to put Shakur in headliner spots, which is unsafe if Premier Boxing Champions wants to hold onto their new broadcasters at Amazon Prime Video. I wouldn’t take that risk if I were Al Haymon of PBC. It would be an unsound move.
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