Boxing analyst Tim Bradley believes Shakur Stevenson is intentionally adopting a villain role to create artificial interest in his career by fighting the media and the fans on social media.
The Mayweather Playbook
What the WBC lightweight champion Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) lacks in entertainment value to create in his boring fights, which involve mainly defense and safety first Mayweather-esque style reincarnated, he makes up by excessively arrogant.
Fans tune in to watch Shakur’s fights, not because they expect to be entertained but to hope he’ll lose and get knocked off his high horse. But given the weak opposition he’s fought, he can’t get beaten.
That said, Shakur arguably deserved a loss last year against Edwin De Los Santos, but the judges bailed him out in that fight. He was exposed in that fight, but being the A-side helped him dodge a lot he would have taken if he was a regular fighter.
High Ratings, Low PPV Potential:
“We’re talking about no one wants to see him, yet the kid has the highest ratings on ESPN [in 2024 for a boxing event] out of any fighter,” said Tim Bradley to Fighthype about Shakur Stevenson. “We say nobody wants to see him, but everybody has their eyes on him [for a fight on a regular non-PPV event on ESPN].”
What Bradley isn’t saying is whether those same fans would have tuned in if Shakur’s fight last weekend against Artem Harutyunyan were on ESPN PPV. I’d say that’s a big NO. People wouldn’t have been willing to purchase Shakur’s fight on PPV, but that’s a different story when it’s on free TV on ESPN. If Shakur’s villain role works, he will fight on PPV, not free television.
“They’re fascinated with him, and they want to see what everybody is talking about. Even in his next fight, people will watch him just to criticize,” said Bradley about Shakur.
Can a Villain Conquer the Lightweight Division?
Being a villain only carries a fighter so far. Their hustle will run its course if they can’t beat the top-rung opposition. Shakur isn’t going to beat Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis fighting the way he does, and he’d likely lose just as badly against Abdullah Mason and William Zepeda.
Bradley notes that Shakur’s defense was so good that he wasn’t getting hit, even while standing in front of Harutyunyan. He’s wrong. Shakur was getting hit by Harutyunyan and quite a bit with clean right hands.
If Tank had been the one landing those shots, Shakur wouldn’t have made it through the fight without getting knocked out. Harutyunyan was head-hunting the entire fight, which made life easier for Shakur because it enabled him to stand in front of him and lean away to avoid his punches.
If Harutyunyan had the sense to target his body, he would have found him an easy target. A fighter like William Zepeda would be a nightmare for Shakur if he tried to fight him in a stationary manner as he did against Harutyunyan because he would throw his body and stop him early like he did his last two opponents.
“I think this new way of Shakur lashing out and going at the media from celebrities on; he’s trying to create a villain role now, and he’s trying to use it not only for fuel but to get more eyeballs watching him, create more hate and putting himself in a situation where many people will believe he’ll lose and he ends up winning,” said Bradley.
The villain role worked for Mayweather because he carefully selected his opposition late in his career, swerving fighters like a young Errol Spence, Keith Thurman, Tim Bradley, and even Manny Pacquiao.
Mayweather didn’t fight Pacquiao until he was on the wrong side of 30 and had recently lost to Juan Manuel Marquez and Bradley. Shakur can’t do the same because he hasn’t established himself as a PPV attraction and needs Tank Davis and Vasily Lomachenko.
The Challenges of a Villain
“He’ll look like the hero. Like this has always been his plan to create this narrative just so people can fight him, and he’ll be able to pay good dividends if he pulls it off,” said Bradley. “If he beats a guy like Tank, if Tank gets in the ring and fights him, that’s validation right there because everybody knows what Tank brings.”
If Shakur beat Tank Davis, of course, he would look like a hero, but that’s not realistic given his fighting style. The judges aren’t going to give Shakur a decision using his three-feet step-back style of fighting, and he can’t stand in the pocket against Tank without getting exterminated quickly.
“Tank right now, if you put a poll up, he’s the #1 guy at 135, according to the boxing world, according to the people, he’s the #1 guy. Shakur probably comes in second. So if he beats Tank, he’s the man. So maybe this is a part of his [Shakur] plan,” said Bradley.
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