Shakur Stevenson Defends His De Los Santos Performance – ‘No One Can Beat Me’
Shakur Stevenson has defended his last performance against Edwin De Los Santos after facing much criticism.
Stevenson beat De Los Santos via a unanimous decision to win the vacant WBC Lightweight Title. The victory made Shakur a three-weight world champion and kept his undefeated record intact. But the manner of the performance was scrutinized. The boxer was fighting on the back foot, using his jab. Shakur later revealed he had entered the fight with a hand injury, showing he could win even on his worst night.
Shakur Reacts
“Didn’t rehydrate properly, and won a world title on the same night. I know I’m the best fighter in the sport. [No one] can beat me on the worst night of my life. How are you going to deal with this version of me [on] July 6th?” Stevenson said
But the performance hindered Shakur’s ability to make the biggest fights. He was already seen as a risk, given his slick boxing style. However, his style does not make it easy to sell to an audience. Gervonta Davis and Devin Haney distanced themselves from the fight. That makes it much more difficult for Stevenson to achieve his undisputed dream at 135 since he would have to face Davis, the WBA Lightweight Champion. Haney also recently responded by saying that Shakur’s career was on the decline.
“Shakur, he say a lot but he don’t fight nobody. We don’t see him fight nobody, we ain’t seen it. He calls everybody’s name out, he was just calling out my name to fight me. This was the day before yesterday and then today seen he’s fighting June — whatever he’s fighting — and he got an opponent already. He’s fighting a guy, Zaur Abdullaev, the guy I already beat. So he going backwards. But what can you say, these guys just be saying my name but they don’t be serious. But if he was serious and we was really hurt in the fight with De Los Santos, then why don’t he just go back and rematch him Haney said
Shakur’s Opponent
The rematch with De Los Santos appears unlikely. Reports indicate that Shakur could face Zaur Abdulaev or Artem Harutyunyan on July 6. Either fighter would show a reduction in quality, especially since Haney has knocked out Abdullaev. This was Haney’s last knockout all the way in 2019. Since Haney is not known for stopping people, Abdullaev looks less like a credible opponent.
But Harutyunyan is not a bad name. He defeated Frank Martin in his last fight in a bout that was very close. Harutyunyan took a knee in the final round after numerous flurries by Martin, which was enough to take a unanimous decision on the cards: 114-113, 115-112 and 115-112. But since Stevenson wanted William Zepeda, the undefeated Mexican with a 30-0 record that includes 26 KOs, either of those two fights would be a massive letdown.
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