Fans Slam Shakur Over $5M Purse For Cordina Fight – ‘5 Million To Run’
Fans have ripped Shakur Stevenson after reports he is earning a guaranteed $5 million purse for facing Joe Cordina.
Shakur faces Cordina on October 12 in the defense of his WBC Lightweight Title. It is his first fight under Matchroom Boxing since leaving Top Rank. Shakur beat Artem Harutyunyan in his final fight with Top Rank to defend the WBC title. Stevenson rejected a five-fight deal with Top Rank for $15 million. The Cordina purse eclipses that by $2 million, justifying Shakur’s decision to sign with Matchroom.
And yet, fans are unhappy. Cordina lost his IBF Super Featherweight Title in his last fight against Anthony Cacace. Cordina was stopped for the first loss of his career. Joe will move up to 135 pounds for the first time in his career for the Shakur fight. The fight was not well received since the WBC had ordered Shakur to face William Zepeda. While that fight could happen later down the line, the $5 million purse looked out of place.
Shakur’s Worth
Shakur has been accused of being a boring fighter. He was booed during his fight with Edwin De Los Santos. Stevenson was criticized for fighting on the back foot with his jab. De Los Santos also struggled to cut the ring off, making it an uneventful event.
Shakur admitted that he had an injury going into the fight. He had the chance to put in a better performance against Artem. While he beat Artem in a comfortable unanimous decision win, Shakur never looked like getting the stoppage. There were some jeers from the crowd, while some fans left before the final round. Stevenson defended his style, but the fans did not view it similarly.
Shakur Fires Back
“I don’t hear nobody ever say Lomachenko was being boring when he fought (Jose) Pedraza. I didn’t hear anything about him being boring when he fought (Guillermo) Rigondeaux. He barely even touched Rigondeaux. [And] he barely landed any punches on Rigondeaux, but nobody claims he was boring. He was coming forward and making a fight, but I just feel like it’s a different standard on young black guys. I feel like our people need to like learn how to stand with us, not play against us,” Stevensons said
Tim Bradley defended Shakur’s recent performances. Before the De Los Santos fight, Shakur looked impressive in his first fight at 135. He took on Shuichiro Yoshino and dropped the Japanese several times before the fight was stopped. This was after Yoshino questioned Shakur’s power. But the De Los Santos fight saw Shakur with an injury, while the Artem bout was the first since that injury, leaving Bradley to say injuries may be playing a factor in Shakur’s fights.
“In recent fights, we haven’t seen the best of Shakur. That could be with injuries, and Shakur is the type of fighter who is quiet about his injuries. He don’t like to talk too much about them. He keeps it a secret. So maybe he’s dealing with something. That’s why we haven’t seen his best,” Bradley stated
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