Promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed he plans to sign Shakur Stevenson to his Matchroom label and is confident he can “make a star” with his promotional skills.
Hearn is confident he can make Shakur a “star.”
Hearn said Shakur plans to attend this Saturday's fight between Matchroom's new signings Jaron “Boots” Ennis and David Avanesyan at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, a move aimed at putting the WBC lightweight champion in the public's eye and allowing Hearn to lure him to Matchroom.
“Shakur Stevenson is one of the most talked about fighters in the world. I know I can make a star out of him. It's a no-brainer for me. I have the dates, the platform and the megaphone. Let's do it,” Eddie Hearn told Seconds Out.
It's questionable whether Hearn could turn Shakur into a PPV star, but he would need to do that to make him the real deal, not a crowd favorite.
No matter how hard Hearn promotes Shakur, he's not going to be the crossover star fans want to see in the U.S. because he's not must-watch TV. American fans want to see entertaining fighters like Gervonta Davis, Isaac Cruz, David Benavidez, Canelo Alvarez and Ryan Garcia.
These are the high watermarks of what American fans want to see for entertainment. Shakur fits into a different category. Fans want to see more of him because of his aggressive personality and his activity on social media. He's almost as active on Twitter as Ryan Garcia, and that alone says a lot.
Hearn correctly points out that Shakur (22-0, 14 KOs) is one of the most talked-about fighters in boxing right now, and after a lackluster 12-round unanimous decision win over Artyom Harutyunyan last weekend, few would argue that Shakur is the one getting the most attention.
Shakur's “Mayweather Effect”
Stevenson's arrogant mindset and endless boasting but failure to back it up with one boring performance after another inside the ring has created the Mayweather effect on people.
If Hearn signs Shakur, he'll need to quickly arrange a fight with Gervonta Davis or Vasiliy Lomachenko because he won't last long before losing. Stevenson came close to losing to Edwin de los Santos last November, but he's not considered one of the top fighters.
“The contract has to be right and we have to have him agree that we still have work to do, but it won't be long. In Boots' case, if Boots performs this weekend, we're up for it,” Hearn said of recently signed IBF welterweight champion Jaron “Boots” Ennis, who will defend his title this Saturday night against replacement opponent David Avanesyan.
Hearn will never make Shakur into a Boots Ennis type of entertaining fighter that fans want to watch, but Shakur is a lot more entertaining than Boots, who has very little to say and doesn't have the same charisma.
“You're already talking about one of the biggest stars in the sport, and Shakur makes it easy,” Hearn said, adding that Shakur isn't a star right now and they need to build him into one. “I rank Boots in the top five pound-for-pound and so does Shakur.”
The need for high-profile matches
Shakur will not become a big star in America unless he beats Tank Davis, Vasiliy Lomachenko, or William Cepeda. Shakur will be like Adrien Broner, who says all the right things in interviews and press conferences, but is boring and underperforming in fights. Broner's performance in his younger years was far better than Shakur's.
