Shakur Stevenson isn’t afraid to fail. Harsh criticism is something ‘Sugar’ takes in stride. Case in point: his last performance against Artem Harutyunyan at the Prudential Center in his hometown, Newark, saw fans leaving during the championship rounds, and boos echoing through the stadium. But that isn’t stopping him from challenging the best fighters in the lightweight division. The WBC lightweight champion is currently waiting in the wings for the most explosive fighter in the division, WBA titleholder Gervonta Davis.
In an exclusive interview with Andre Ward, when asked if the fight against Davis would happen or not, Stevenson replied confidently, “Yeah I know it’s going to happen, I mean I’m the best… he the best, so when you got two guys that’s the best how can you not fight.”
To back up Stevenson’s statement, his co-manager, Josh Dubin reaffirmed that ‘Killer Kur’ is “waiting and ready to negotiate” and a financially viable offer is all that is needed to close the deal with ‘Tank’. “[We] have our phone lines open, ready for a call, and they have our numbers. It’s a fight Shakur really wants. He’s been begging for it for a long time,” Dubin asserted.
Even though Shakur Stevenson’s display in his last two matchups in the lightweight division was underwhelming, to say the least, he is still willing to challenge the division’s most exciting fighters as fear has no place in the 25-year-old fighter’s mind. In his latest X post, Stevenson opined, “Get to it or die trying. Fear is fake don’t fear failure long as u always give 110 percent u can live with the results.”
On the other hand, Davis’ plan to fight Ukrainian boxer Vasyl Lomachenko has been foiled, as the latter wants to take a break from boxing “to spend more time with the family.” On that note, a fight against Shakur Stevenson seems like a good option. Possibly, the only factor stopping Davis from taking the fight is his gun-shy performances contributing to his diminishing pay-per-view appeal.
Nonetheless, if the Gervonta Davis fight doesn’t work out for Stevenson, there is another fighter waiting to share the ring with him.
Ranked No. 1 by all four major sanctioning bodies, the WBC has ordered Shakur Stevenson to defend his title against mandatory challenger Zepeda. The sanctioning body has set a deadline for the purse bid on August 20, before which the two fighters need to negotiate a deal.
Likewise, Zepeda’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, wants to give him the first world title shot against the Newark native. “I want to make that fight. Shakur, skill-wise, is probably the best fighter on the planet today. “I think the only one that’s in the way of making that fight is me, but I’ll tell you one thing. I will make that fight,” De La Hoya confidently told FightHype.
Having bravado is important in the fight game, but it has to be backed up by taking risks in the squared circle. If Stevenson wants to fight elite boxers in his division, he needs to make adjustments in his style of fighting, focusing more on how to be more offensive.
Who do you think Shakur Stevenson should be fighting next? William Zepeda or Gervonta Davis? Let us know in the comment section below.
