Shakur Stevenson Could Sign With Matchroom
Shakur Stevenson is reportedly interesting Eddie Hearn, as the boxer could find himself with Matchroom Boxing.
Shakur has one fight left on his Top Rank deal as he prepares for his boxing return on July 6. Reports indicate that he will likely face Artem Harutyunyan in the first defence of his WBC Lightweight Title. Shakur has struggled to get a fight, as bouts with Gervonta Davis, Devin Haney, and William Zepeda have failed. Fighters under the same banner of Top Rank have also failed. Shakur has yet to fight Vasiliy Lomachenko despite his desire to make that fight. Bob Arum has confirmed that Shakur could talk to other promoters.
Arum On Shakur
“Shakur is fighting on July 6th in New Jersey at the Prudential Center. We’ll announce the opponent relatively shortly, and we had a great run with Shakur. He’s an incredible fighter with incredible skills, but our contract is over with the July 6th fight. Hopefully, we’ll maintain our relationship with Shakur and continue that, but he’s a free agent after the July 6th fight. So, we’ll see how that all plays out. The guys at the office told me that who they selected for Shakur is a really good fighter,” Arum said
A deal with Matchroom gives Shakur plenty of options. If he moves up to 140, there is the Haney fight. Haney is the current WBC Junior Welterweight Champion, who faces Ryan Garcia in his next fight. The winner could arguably face Shakur next. There is also the option of the Subriel Matias fight. Matias holds the IBF Junior Welterweight Belt and has recently signed a deal with Matchroom. Hearn has spoken about Shakur’s skills in the past.
“How old is the guy, 26. Of course he’s not retiring. Just say to him ‘Alright, mate. Bye. Come back to us when you’ve finished your tantrum.’ What Shakur Stevenson should be doing is actually getting off Twitter because I rate him as one of the top fighters in the world…do you think a fan wants to read about Shakur Stevenson sulking about the politics of boxing and saying he’s retiring and then when he comes back, what, do you expect people to support him even more?,” Hearn stated
Shakur’s Future
Shakur could cross over to the PBC if a deal with Matchroom does not go through. That would allow Shakur to secure the lucrative fight with Gervonta Davis. PBC is known for keeping their stable fighting with each other. Davis’ camp has said the Shakur fight does not make sense, but that could all change if Shakur is on the same side of the street.
But the thing hampering Shakur is his fighting style. His performance against Edwin De Los Santos was heavily criticized. Despite winning the WBC belt at 135, Shakur was booed during the fight. Shakur’s hand injury did not justify the performance, with fans becoming frustrated at his style. If Shakur wants the biggest fights, he needs the right promoter and a more attacking style.
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