Shakur Stevenson is training with Terence Crawford to prepare for the defense of his WBC lightweight title against Joe Cordina in their odd undercard headliner on October 12th at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
If Shakur is getting paid five million for this fight against Cordina, he’ll need to turn in a priceless performance to impress not only fans but also his promoter, Eddie Hearn. Hearn is paying him all that dough, naively thinking he can transform him into a “global superstar.”
This isn’t a fight that Shakur needs Crawford’s help, given that Cordina isn’t a high-level fighter and looked abysmal in his last fight, getting taken apart by 35-year-old Anthony Cacace, losing by an eighth-round knockout on May 18th.
The Need for a Stylistic Overhaul
I wouldn’t use Terence Crawford to learn to become entertaining because he’s also very boring to watch, and Shakur won’t get anything from working with that old guy. Crawford’s last fight against Israil Madrimov last month was a dull chess match that the fans booed.
If Shakur feels he needs help for this fight to morph into a more entertaining fighter, he needs to enlist the help of Abdullah Mason. He’s easily the most exciting fighter in the 135-lb division and is on the express trip to PPV stardom.
Mason is the guy Shakur should learn from because his fighting style needs a complete overhaul. Fans intensely dislike Shakur’s approach, and he should have made changes years ago instead of waiting.
He’s adopted a throwback Mayweather-esque fighting style that doesn’t work with fans of this era of the sport, who demand entertainment and have no patience for Floyd’s tedious approach.
Like music, fans change their tastes, and what they enjoyed listening to 10 to 20 years ago is no longer appealing to younger people. As such, Shakur must learn to fight in the pocket and stop running, starting with his tune-up fight against Cordina on October 12th.
Building Stevenson’s Popularity
Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) has been fed a beatable non-lightweight opponent, Cordina (17-1, 9 KOs), in his debut with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing promotion to raise his nonexistent popularity with U.S fans ahead of what could be a big 2025.
The Shakur vs. Cordina fight and the skeleton crew of an undercard have been cropped off from the main event fight between WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol and IBF/WBC/WBO champ Artur Beterbiev.
It will be shown live on DAZN PPV for a price that has yet to be determined. Fans will be apoplectic if the Stevenson-Cordina PPV price is in the $70+ range rather than a more realistic price of $20.
“What Eddie Hearn is doing is bringing his name back off the ground, giving him someone he should cook,” said coach Greg Hackett to the YSM Sports Media YouTube channel, discussing Shakur Stevenson’s title defense against the recently knocked-out Joe Cordina on October 12th in Riyadh.
63-0 🔥@terencecrawford helping @ShakurStevenson in camp for Joe Cordina on Oct 12 😮💨 #StevensonCordina #BeterbievBivol #RiyadhSeason pic.twitter.com/3ZwAPGnko5
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) September 3, 2024
The Challenge of Change
Hackett is correct. Shakur should look impressive beating Cordina, but that doesn’t mean he will. Old habits die hard, and if Cordina comes out of the gates fast, throwing right hands with full power on them, Shakur will put on his sprinter shoes and will be on the run.
Ideally, Shakur should stay in the pocket and be willing to take Cordina’s shots to land his own, but he probably won’t. Cordina punches harder than Shakur’s last opponent, Artem Harutyunyan, and he wasn’t willing to stand and trade last July.
“Joe Cordina is to be respected,” said Hackett. “He’s not no chump, but he’s clearly not the favorite against Shakur. That’s okay, but Shakur has got to go in there and do what you do to the maximum. Give him a massive [backside] whooping.”
Shakur will not give Cordina a backside whooping like Hackett believes because that’s not his approach to fighting. Stevenson still uses the same amateur fencing style that he had during the Olympics, and he doesn’t seem capable of change.
At 27, Shakur is 100% set in his ways, and he looks like a person who can’t change his fighting style without it physically breaking him. He’s addicted to his fighting style and is too afraid to take punches. Shakur has too much rabbit in him to change, and he might as well be a 40-year-old because he’s beyond change.
“Let Eddie talk his [stuff] and let Shakur do his work and watch what we’re talking about next,” said Hackett. “It’ll be someone honorable next after Cordina [that Shakur fights]. I think it’s for something better after this. Let’s get past Cordina and do what we got to do. Stay focused. Let’s beat Cordina and look like something. Let’s give the people something to talk about and let Eddie work his magic.”
Hearn isn’t going to be able to hype the Shakur vs. Cordina fight even to motivate U.S. boxing fans to purchase this event, believing that this clash is pure gold.
It might sell in the UK, where Cordina is still well-liked, but in the U.S., they know why he’s being brought in. It’s to make Shakur look good, rebuild him artificially, and help PPV sales for a Stevenson vs. William Zepeda fight in the first quarter of 2025.
The Need to Take Risks
“I’m looking for a little bit of a risk-taker; that’s what I’m looking for,” said Hackett about what he’s expecting to see from Shakur on October 12th against Cordina. “I know the skills will be there [for Shakur]. I know the defense is going to be there. I’m not talking about that. Take a few risks. That’s what I’m talking about. Go in there and bite down.”
Shakur must take risks against the 32-year-old Cordina because it’s on DAZN PPV, and he must create interest for fights against Zepeda and Gervonta Davis next year. If Shakur runs from a low-level fighter like Cordina, fans aren’t going to want to purchase his fights against Tank and Zepeda on PPV.
Read the full article here
