Shakur Stevenson says his goal now is to “fight the best,” and he’s no longer interested in collecting all the belts at this stage of his career. He believes that he won’t receive credit from fans, even if he becomes undisputed at lightweight.
Conveniently, Shakur (23-0, 11 KOs) is no longer interested in collecting belts, because the champions that would have to beat him could mess up his career by defeating him.
WBC lightweight champion Stevenson has a tough fight against William Zepeda (33-0, 27 KOs) this Saturday, July 12th, on DAZN PPV at the Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York. It’s possible that Shakur will lose that fight and will need to focus on trying to get a rematch.
Is Tank Davis Next for Shakur?
Turki Alalshikh would probably come through for him, because he said recently that he would be “Very upset” if Shakur is knocked out because he has “big plans” for him.
Some believe that means he’s going to line him up with the Gervonta Davis fight that he’s been crying for since moving up to the lightweight division in 2023. Turki will ensure Shakur gets his chance to win back his WBC title from Zepeda, which could work against him if he loses again.
Paycheck Over Prestige: Shakur’s View
“My goal is to fight the best fighters. The guys that they think can beat me. I want to show people that I’m better than all of these guys,” said Shakur Stevenson to the Ring Magazine YouTube channel.’
Let’s break that down to what Shakur is really saying. He’s looking for the biggest paycheck he can get, and that translates to his focus on getting the Tank Davis fight if he’s victorious against Zepeda on Saturday. That’s the only guy at lightweight that Shakur has expressed interest in fighting, among the remaining names in the weight class.
When Shakur first arrived at 135 in 2023, he was also chasing Vasily Lomachenko, Devin Haney, Frank Martin, and Isaac Cruz. The stock has dropped for Martin and ‘Pitbull’ Cruz to where they’re worthless as opponents to increase Shakur’s shaky credibility.
Haney and Lomachenko are gone and not coming back. The fighters that are remaining are talented and dangerous for a light puncher with a Jerry-style of fighting like Shakur. He won’t get that big bag fighting Andy Cruz, Abdullah Mason, and Floyd Schofield. The chances are, Shakur will lose to all three, and his career would be over as a major player at 135, without returning to the soft matchmaking that got him to this point.
“That’s my goal now. I’m not even thinking about becoming undisputed that probably don’t matter. If you become undisputed and you didn’t fight against the guys that were the best guys, they’re going to downplay undisputed tags, too. I’m focused on fighting the best,” said Shakur.
If Stevenson was focused on fighting the best, why did he fight Josh Padley, Artem Harutyunyan, and Shuichiro Yoshino after moving up to lightweight? Why didn’t Shakur fight these fighters?
Andy Cruz
Raymond Muratalla
Abdullah Mason
Floyd Schofield
Jadier Herrera