Shakur Stevenson is looking massive for a 135-pounder ahead of his PPV fight against Joe Cordina on October 12th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
This week, WBC lightweight champion Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) was pictured next to his friend, Terence Crawford, and surprisingly looked bigger than him. Fans look at that picture and the video of the two working out and say, ‘No wonder Shakur did so well fighting in three different weight classes. The guy is giant next to his competition.’
Training with Crawford
Shakur has been honing his style with the four-division world champion Crawford. Stevenson aims to become more fan-friendly and entertain the fans to become a “global superstar” and PPV fighter.
He’s got a lot of work to do because his fighting style doesn’t match what the U.S. fans are looking for when they watch boxing. There are not enough fans in the States to appreciate Shakur’s fighting style, and he either adapts or perishes.
He’s currently British promoter Eddie Hearn’s project, but he will have to take him to the UK if he wants to transform him into a star because he won’t be able to do that in the U.S.
Shakur is fighting on PPV for his October 12t title defense against Cordina, but it’s priced at $14.99. In the future, unless Shakur is fighting someone popular like Gervonta Davis or William Zepeda, he’ll return to non-PPV because he lacks the style to fight behind a paywall.
Shakur, 27, has always been big for the weight classes he’s competed in, and that’s helped him win world titles that he might not have won if not for his size.
With Shakur’s size, he could easily campaign at 147, fighting the likes of Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis. Of course, that would be a step too far for Shakur, who barely beat lightweight Edwin De Los Santos last November to claim the vacant WBC 135-lb belt.
👑👑 @ShakurStevenson @terencecrawford #StevensonCordina | Oct 12 | #RiyadhSeason pic.twitter.com/wljZeRFBKb
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) September 6, 2024
The Blueprint to Beat Shakur
The New Jersey native Stevenson’s work will be made much easier against former IBF super featherweight champion Cordina (17-1, 9 KOs), who is coming up in weight from 130 to challenge him for his title. It is believed that Shakur’s promoter Hearn is feeding him a gimme to make him resemble a star, raise his stock, and help out his needy Matchroom fighter Cordina.
Cordina and his trainer, Ben Davison, will have to figure out a way to solve the Shakur puzzle on October 12th. De Los Santos might be the blueprint to follow because he had brief success chasing Shakur around the ring, nailing him hard when he could pin him down.
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