Shakur Stevenson is once again looking for a suitable ring foe to agree to face him. As fans have no doubt read or heard, a fight between Stevenson and fellow unbeaten southpaw Frank Martin has imploded, the fight to have contested the vacant WBC lightweight title, set, we felt done for November 16, now off due to Martin basically not wanting the smoke.
This has understandably left Stevenson, 20-0(10) felling very angry and very frustrated. Martin, 18-0(12) would, we felt, have been a good test for Stevenson in what would have been his second fight up at 135 pounds. Stevenson’s second fight at the weight will still happen, but it’s now down to the next ranked contender that is currently available, this being Edwin De Los Santos, in terms of who it will be against. We must now wait and see if De Los Santos of The Dominican Republic, who is currently 16-1(14) wants the fight.
Stevenson, upon finding out how Martin had bailed on the fight, took to social media to write how he is the “most ducked fighter in the sport.”
It’s tough to disagree with Stevenson.
“Most ducked fighter in the sport of boxing,” Stevenson wrote. “Edwin [De Los Santos] get ready, I’m tired of [you] saying my name.”
Stevenson, who since moving up to lightweight has been avoided by the likes of Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz, Jose Zepeda and George Kambosos Jr, wants to fight the best but the best do not seem to want to fight him. This is a real shame, as the folks at Top Rank, along with Stevenson himself, are painfully aware.
“Shakur Stevenson is willing to fight anybody in and around his weight class,” Top Rank’s Evan Korn told ESPN. “The fact that so many fighters have turned down the challenge is testament to his greatness. It’s disappointing that the fans will be deprived if such a highly anticipated matchup (the Stevenson-Martin fight).”
Indeed.
So now it’s down to Dos Santos. But does Dos Santos, another southpaw, want the fight? Dos Santos is a good fighter, he has never been stopped, and he is young and hungry. But then the same could be said of Martin, of Cruz, of Zepeda, and the rest.
Just what will it take for Shakur Stevenson to be able get a big fight worthy of his skill and talent?
