Promoter Eddie Hearn announced signing Shakur Stevenson to a two-fight deal with Matchroom Boxing. The deal will see Shakur defend his WBC lightweight title against Joe Cordina and then potentially William Zepeda in early 2025 in February.
Hearn says he wants to match Shakur against Gervonta Davis in the summer of next year. As many expect, he may not get there if he loses to Zepeda. If he runs from Zepeda all night like he did against Edwin De Los Santos, his popularity will be so low that making the Tank fight would be a waste of time.
The two-fight deal Hearn signed with Shakur allows them to quickly part ways if the relationship isn’t beneficial for both. Shakur must produce against Cordina and Zepeda for him to be worth signing to a long-term contract.
It won’t be good if Shakur is booed out of the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh for his fight against Cordina or if Zepeda knocks him out in February.
Hearn believes he’s got a fighter with “superstar” potential in Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs), and he feels he’s the one who can promote him into existence.
“He may be unbeatable. I know he’s a pound-for-pound star. I believe Stevenson has been “massively undersold” and should be a global superstar,” said Hearn to Matchroom Boxing.
Given that Shakur almost lost to Edwin De Los Santos, it’s safe to say that he’s not “unbeatable” and will lose against Zepeda, if not with the gimme against Cordina.
The reason Shakur isn’t a “pound-for-pound star” is that fighters have to be willing to exchange to make that distinction, and he’s shown no willingness to do that. Shakur’s entire game is built around his defense and not getting hit. He’s one-dimensional in that respect, and you have to be more well-rounded to be a “pound-for-pound star” and a global attraction.
“For Shakur, there’s this two-fight plan of Joe Cordina and if he’s triumphant into the [William] Zepeda fight,” said Hearn. “We’ll show him during that period our value. We’ll work together closely, and then we’ll move forward against Gervonta Davis and everybody.”
Shakur is good for what he is; he is a defensive artist and plays the villain character really well in his interviews and frequent Twitter posts. But regarding entertainment value, he’s not what U.S. fans want to see. Hearn has got it wrong and fails to understand what the American fans enjoy watching. They like entertaining fighters like Gervonta Davis, Canelo Alvarez, and William Zepeda.
Shakur’s previous promoters, Top Rank, tried to turn him into a star and quickly discovered that his ultra-cautious fighting style didn’t interest the average American fan.
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