Shakur Stevenson’s Price for Keyshawn Davis? $500 Million

Shakur Stevenson said today that he won’t fight his “brother” and longtime friend Keyshawn Davis unless the money is absurd.

We’re talking $500 million, absurd.

Stevenson said it would take “crazy” money. Life-changing money. Money that feeds families for generations. Otherwise, he has no interest in fighting someone he considers family and potentially ruining that relationship.

And honestly, there’s no pressure on him to do it anyway.

There isn’t much fan demand for Shakur vs. Keyshawn. There was a brief moment of curiosity when both held titles at 135. That passed quickly. It’s not a fight people are asking for now. It’s not a fight that moves anything.

Shakur doesn’t have to duck it. No one’s forcing it.

Keyshawn has also gone quiet. He hasn’t fought in 10 months. He’s never beaten a notable opponent. He doesn’t feel like a factor at the moment, and inactivity has a way of making fighters disappear fast.

“I know for a fact that would make us have a certain relationship that we don’t have now,” Stevenson said on the Dialogue YouTube channel. “So, unless they give us $500 million or some crazy stuff that’s going to feed our families for the rest of our lives and the generations after that, I don’t understand why people even bring it up. I don’t care.”

The bigger question is whether either of them will ever reach the level where that kind of money is even realistic.

Right now, it doesn’t look close.

At 140 pounds, both would be facing dangerous fighters. Guys like Gary Antuanne Russell and Ernesto Mercado aren’t forgiving matchups. Those fights don’t come with guarantees, and losses don’t help bargaining power.

There’s really only one person in boxing who could even joke about a $500 million purse. That’s Turki Alalshikh. And even then, Shakur has been fighting on undercards in those events. The idea that he’d get one-tenth of that number is a stretch.

If Shakur wants anything close to the money Terence Crawford made against Canelo, he likely has to change things. Fight differently. Beat better names. Build real demand. Teofimo Lopez and William Zepeda aren’t enough on their own to get him there.

“I could kill him. He could kill me with the right shot,” Shakur said. “We’re barbarians in the ring. If something happens and he doesn’t make it back to his family, that’s on me. I couldn’t live with that.”

As for Keyshawn, he lost his WBO belt last summer after failing to make weight for a canceled fight against Edwin De Los Santos. He hasn’t fought since. He’s moved up to 140, but there’s no clear direction yet.

For now, Shakur vs. Keyshawn isn’t being held up by money.

It’s being held up by reality.