Shakur Stevenson Blames Scared Boxers For His Fight Delay – ‘Tell That To All The Punk Fighters’

Shakur Stevenson blamed scared fighters for the delay in his next fight.

The WBC Lightweight Champion recently came out of retirement. Stevenson left the sport following his poor showing against Edwin De Los Santos. Despite winning the WBC belt to become a three-division champion, his defensive performance angered the crowd, who booed him. Stevenson blamed a hand injury for that performance, damaging his standing in the division.

It decreased his chances of making the big fights with Devin Haney and Gervonta Davis. Not only was Shakur seen as a poor style to sell to the fans, but he was also a high-risk fighter with very little reward. After reversing his retirement, he had been linked with several names. William Zepeda called out Stevenson following his win over Maxi Hughes.

Shakur was keen to make that fight, only for Zepeda’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, to say otherwise. Shakur even offered himself as a replacement for Ryan Garcia if the fighter could not make the April 20 date for his fight with Devin Haney. Garcia’s mental health has raised concerns he won’t be ready. But Garcia and Haney look like it will go ahead, leaving Shakur looking elsewhere. The fighter has become frustrated at the lack of opponents available.

Shakur Reacts

“It wasn’t my decision to wait this long; if it were up to me, I would have been back in March or April. Tell that to all the punk fighters in my weight that turned down the fight with me,” Shakur said 

Reports indicate that his next opponent will be Artem Harutyunyan. Harutyunyan is coming off a decision loss against Frank Martin. He was well into the fight, only for things to change in the last round. Harutyunyan took a knee in the final round, allowing Martin to decide on the cards.

It is not the biggest name that Stevenson could have faced, which is why there are suggestions he will leave Top Rank after this fight. Stevenson has one bout left on his deal, leaving him free to speak to other promoters. In response to Stevenson’s struggles, Leonard Ellerbe stated the following.

Shakur’s Future

“Teo’s a very good fighter, Shakur’s a very good fighter. Wish them the best success in their next events and what they got moving forward. But everybody can’t be an attraction. That is a process over a period of time. It’s hard as hell to generate fan interest…everybody can’t sell out venues.

“I can’t speak on any of that. Shakur is under contract with Top Rank, he has an excellent team behind him, Bob and them know what they’re doing and they’ve done a very good job with his career thus far and that’s on everybody else. I don’t have anything to do with that,” Ellerbe stated 

If Sharkur desires to make the biggest fights, he must put on more attacking performances. Should he manage to do that, he makes himself more appealing to other promoters looking to sign arguably a generational talent.

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