Shakur Stevenson says people don’t like watching his fights because he “dominated” his opponents, and they don’t like to see this kind of competition. WBC lightweight champion Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) believes that’s why fans hate watching him; he makes his fights so one-sided.
What’s interesting is how resistant Shakur is to change. He’s not willing to adapt his style to become fan-friendly and get the fights he wants. Stevenson would do himself a world of good if he looked vulnerable against Floyd Schofield and got dropped two or three times in their February 22 fight. That’s all it would take for other fighters to face him.
Changes Shakur needs
– Stays in the pocket
– Throw more punches
– Focus on power
– Stop running
Building a global star
He signed with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom last summer and will make his debut for his company against Floyd Schofield on February 22 in Riyadh. Hearn believes he can make Stevenson a global superstar. However, this is how the British promoter is when recruiting someone.
We saw the same thing from Hearn when he inked Jaron Ennis, Richardson Hitchins, and Demetrius Andrade. None of these fighters became stars, and Hearn seemed to quickly lose his enthusiasm when they failed to become the superstars he hoped for.
We’ll probably see it soon when Shakur puts in a poor performance next month against Schofield. Hearn will stop saying Shakur’s name and he will be invisible.
Shakur, 27, doesn’t understand why he isn’t appreciated. He doesn’t engage, fails to stay in the pocket, and fights with fear when facing powerful opponents.
The only guys Stevenson dominates are old, slow fighters with marginal talent and no power. He is regularly booed during his fights and does not have the popularity or fighting style to get the big names to fight him.
Fan perceptions
“They don’t just watch the match to watch for the knockout. They will take the KO if it happens. They’re going to love it, but they also love seeing the science, and I appreciate them for that too,” Shakur Stevenson told talkSport Boxing on British fans.
“I’m getting more and more comfortable with it [being labeled ‘boring]. You have to realize that every night it won’t be war. A style like mine and a guy like me, I’m very dominant. I come in and I dominate. People don’t like to see someone come in and dominate.
“I’m kind of used to being the hungry young lion. Now I have another hungry young lion who is younger than me. I certainly don’t think he’s hungrier than me,” Shakur said of 22-year-old Floyd Schofield, who he will fight on February 22.
Shakur, a Newark, New Jersey native, will have to start getting used to being the older fighter as he gets older, approaching 30. It won’t be long before he becomes one of boxing’s elder statesmen and has a target on his back. For fighters who rely on their mobility and reflexes, they don’t last long in this sport.
Career path
“I try to get the big names. I’m trying to get the William Zepedas. I’m trying to get the Vasily Lomachenkos. If I can’t get these guys, I have to take the guys who are next. He’s a guy who calls my phone all the time,” Shakur said.
Stevenson wouldn’t have trouble getting the big names he mentioned if he wasn’t such a runner, not afraid to commit and getting booed outside of the arena. Fighters like Lomachenko, Zepeda and Gervonta Davis don’t want to have to chase a runner around the ring while getting booed by fans. They wouldn’t be booed.
That would be Shakur, and that would be a cup of poison for the people watching. You can’t blame top fighters for not wanting anything to do with Stevenson because he doesn’t come to fight.
Hesitant to progress
“After having passed it [Schofield]I would say Zepeda and Gervonta Davis,” Shakur said about who he wants to fight the rest of the year in 2025 after defending against Kid Austin. “I’m very comfortable at 135 pounds. We’ll see once I conquer the division,” Stevenson said when asked if he would move up in weight like Floyd Mayweather Jr. did.
Shakur isn’t about to move up to 147 to take on the killers in this division because he can’t punch at 135, and he’s already shown that he’s deathly afraid when fighting powerful guys.
While there aren’t many punchers at the top of the welterweight division today, fighters like Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, Eimantas Stanionis and Brian Norman Jr. would feast on a fighter who was weak, timid and fine like Shakur. He couldn’t run enough not to reach it. They would bring in Stevenson, hunt him down, and destroy him in that order.
