Shakur Stevenson responded today to people’s criticism of being a “boring” fighter, viewing it as a coordinated effort to keep him down.
A Conspiracy Theory?
Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) suggests it’s a conspiracy to keep him from getting the fights he wants. The idea is that when they say he’s “boring,” they’re trying to influence others to keep him down.
It’s a strange idea that Shakur has cooked up as a conspiracy. It would have to involve tens of thousands of people, who collectively view him as dull and not worth watching the main events on television.
Rather than viewing it as a conspiracy, Shakur must listen to what fans say because they tell him his defensive fighting style is dull.
Ignoring The Real Issue
The booing from the fans for Shakur’s last two fights against Artem Harutyunyan and Edwin De Los Santos wasn’t because they were whispering to each other to conspire to keep him down from getting the fights he wanted. They were letting him know that he was not entertaining.
To further his argument that he’s being singled out. Shakur mentioned Vasily Lomachenko’s fight against Jose Pedraza in 2018, saying he didn’t think it was entertaining to watch. However, Shakur notes that people were showing highlight clips of Lomachenko, making it clear they favored his fighting style and weren’t criticizing him.
“We’re [Gervonta Davis] both young black kings…I’m not the first person that was called boring. Floyd was called boring. Andre Ward was called boring. Pernell Whitaker, they called him boring. Bud got booed in fights before,” said Shakur Stevenson to DAZN Boxing, reacting to being told that two YouTube post hosts labeled him as a boring fighter and didn’t want to watch him fight in the future.
King of Denial
Shakur isn’t a “king” at lightweight. He’s just a guy who won his WBC lightweight with an ugly 12-round decision against Edwin De Los Santos last November in a dull, unwatchable fight much closer than the judges’ scores.
Stevenson has made one defense of his WBC lightweight title against Artem Harutyunyan, a fighter coming off a loss to Frank Martin. Shakur’s last two fights were lackluster, and they did not perform like a king.
“They’re playing with the people that want to put the agenda out there that want to go with the narrative to stop me from getting the fights that I want. They’re playing into that,” said Shakur, making it clear that he sees it as a conspiracy that people are labeling him as boring and don’t want to watch him because they want to keep him from succeeding.
“It’s all good. You’re saying my name. So my name is going up,” said a visibly upset-looking Shakur, trying to play it off like it doesn’t bother him that people view him as a dull fighter. “Keep talking.”
Stevenson is disingenuous when he says the criticism doesn’t bother him because it does. That’s why he’s defending himself night and day on X, firing back at all the fans and notable people who call him boring. He’s unwilling to listen and change, which will hold him back and hurt his career.
If the boss tells you that you’re performing poorly in any job, you listen and make corrections. If you don’t, you get fired. In Shakur’s case, he’s arguing and refusing to change. That’s why he’s not a PPV attraction and still hasn’t gotten the fights he’s been begging for against Gervonta Davis and Vasily Lomachenko.
Deflection and Comparisons
“Someone like Lomachenko. When I watched Lomachenko-Pedraza, I didn’t think that was the most entertaining fight. The other people felt that was an entertaining fight. It was the best fight. They’re bringing up highlight clips. But when it comes to me, and I’m in the pocket, touching a guy, and a guy is moving, they’re going to make it seem like I’m in a bad fight, and it’s boring,” said Shakur
It’s a poor comparison Shakur brings up to try and escape his boring label. Lomachenko was so much better against Pedraza than what he’s shown as a pro or amateur.
I watched Lomachenko’s fight against Pedraza, and Loma was far more entertaining in that fight than any of Shakur’s last 22 fights as a pro. The offensive skills, movement, and technical ability that Lomachenko displayed against Pedraza were on another level than Shakur’s three-foot step-back approach to his fights.
Lomachenko wasn’t booed because he was attacking against Pedraza, firing shots, and not retreating when attacked the entire fight the way Shakur typically does.
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