Shakur Stevenson, the WBC lightweight champion, reposted a video of promoter Eddie Hearn saying that if he’s a free agent, he would like to have a conversation about signing him to his Matchroom company.
Promoters Vying for Stevenson
Shkur’s contract with Top Rank expires on July 6th after he defends against Artem Harutyunyan at the Prudential Center in Newark, Jersey. He’s not yet said if he’ll re-sign with Top Rank or move on.
Promoter Bob Arum has stated that he would like to bring Shakur back, but it’ll be up to him if he wants to return.
Matchroom’s Options for Stevenson
If Shakur signs with Hearn’s company, it’s unclear who he has in his Matchroom stable to set up fights with for him other than these fighters:
– Andy Cruz: 135
– Liam Paro: 140
– Subrial Matias: 140
– Richardson Hitchins: 140
– Jack Catterall: 140
Those are probably not the type of fighters that Shakur hopes to face once he hits the free-agent market. He wants to fight Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, Vasily Lomacheko, Teofimo Lopez, and Devin Haney, fighters who aren’t interested in facing Shakur due to his movement and lack of popularity.
If Shakur signs with Hearn, his best hope for a mega-fight is if His Excellency Turki Alalshikh takes an interest in him, and chooses to pay Tank, Haney, Lomachenko or Teofimo a boatload of money for them to take the fight.
Potential Risks and Rewards for Stevenson
If Shakur inks with Hearn, that’s the best possible outcome. The worst that could happen is that he signs with Hearn and is struck fighting Andy Cruz, Paro, Matias, Hitchins, or Catterall.
Shakur would be doing Hearn a favor by fighting those guys because none of them are as popular as him, and he’s not even a big name. That shows how far off the radar those fighters are with casual boxing fans in the U.S.
🎯 https://t.co/eRwcDi4cxf
— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) June 25, 2024
“I think he’s a great fighter. I think he would be an incredible addition to the Matchroom team, and if he’s available, we will definitely be having a conversation,” said promoter Eddie Hearn to the media, talking about Shakur Stevenson.
Hearn will have to lay it on the table to let Shakur know what would be in store for him if he signs with Matchroom. As long as Shakur knows what likely fighters he’ll be matched against, he won’t have room to gripe later about dream match-ups against fighters like Ryan Garcia, Tank, and Haney not happening.
Industry Views on Stevenson
“Shakur is a fantastic fighter and one of the most underappreciated fighters in the game,” said Tim Bradley to Fight Hub TV. “He’s the most unappreciated fighter in the game. It’s shameful to see how many people bash Shakur because of his skillset and what he brings.
Shakur isn’t appreciated because fans nowadays like to watch exacting fighters; he falls short in that department with his Mayweather-esque style.
I’m talking about the older version of Mayweather when he became ‘Money May’ and was a safety-first pot-shot guy, not when he was in the ‘Pretty Boy’ phase of his career when he was younger.
“Yeah, we talk about his last fight. It was boring. There was a lot going on with him. I’n not making no excuses,” said Bradley about Shakur’s fight last November against Edwin De Los Santos. “He should have still performed better,” said Tim.
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