Eddie Hearn: Shakur Stevenson “Invincible.”The Matchroom promoters can’t wait to welcome unbeaten WBC lightweight champion Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) to their team and work their matchmaking magic to turn him into a star.
Hearn's vision for Stevenson's stardom
Hearn wouldn't say who he would pit Shakur against if he were successful in negotiating a contract, because Hearn's 135-pound roster includes 2020 Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz, who he would likely beat.
That's not the type of opponent Shakur dreams of, and he certainly doesn't want to lose a non-PPV bout so soon.
“Shakur Stevenson may be invincible. Shakur is great. His style is sometimes not all-out aggressive, but Arturo Gatti, guess what? He's winning these fights. He's fighting the way he wants to fight,” Eddie Hearn told 2nd Sout.
Shakur's fighting style at 135 pounds is safety first because he has stronger and bigger punches than the opponents he has beaten at 126 and 130. When Shakur fought at these weight classes, he had a size advantage over his opponents, which allowed him to parry their punches and sometimes score knockouts.
At 135 pounds, Shakur can't afford to be aggressive against these fighters because they would be too hard on him and knock him out. He's out of place at lightweight, so he's forced to box more than he would in other weight classes.
Dream Fight
“When you see him fight Tank or Cepeda, I think you're going to see the best Shakur Stevenson,” Hearn said. “I know I can make him a star, because that's a no-brainer for me.”
Hearn probably won't put Shakur up against number one ranked fighter William Cepeda until he has Shakur in a money fight against Gervonta “Tank” Davis, and if that fight is over and Shakur is soundly defeated, Hearn might bet on Cepeda.
But that won't happen. Hearn will need to rebuild Shakur the way he did with Anthony Joshua after his second loss to Oleksandr Usyk. He'll fight Shakur against three or four tough opponents, give him some confidence, do some false advertising, and then push for a rematch with Tank Davis. In other words, it's the same old thing again. It's just business.
“He's very highly rated on ESPN, and from what I understand, the crowd in Newark was really good,” Hearn said of the 8,000-plus fans who showed up to see Shakur vs. Artem Harutyunyan last Saturday night. The venue has a capacity of 18,000, meaning the Shakur-Harutyunyan fight in Shakur's hometown was less than half full.
It's hard to take Hearn's “invincible” comments too seriously, considering Shakur barely beat Edwin del los Santos by 12-round scores of 115-113, 116-112, 116-112 on November 16 of last year.
Of the three, the more accurate score is 115-113which should have worked in De Los Santos' favor, as he landed the stronger punches each round and dominated the fight against the fleeing Shakur.
If Hearn signed the 27-year-old Shakur, groomed him to be a “star” on the world stage, and sold Shakur's fights on PPV with the idea that fans would be willing to buy to see him pound the ring, the gamble may not end well for Hearn.
Shakur is a keep-away fighter in fights, but he's never been a star, and he's by no means an “invincible” fighter.
