Shakur Stevenson blames “Dominance” for fan disapproval

Shakur Stevenson says people don’t like watching his fights because he “dominate” his opponents, and they don’t like to see those types of contests. WBC lightweight champion Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) feels that’s why fans hate watching him; he makes his fights so one sided.

Build a Global Star

He signed with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom last summer and will debut with his company against Floyd Schofield on February 22 in Riyadh. Hearn thinks he can turn Stevenson into a global superstar. However, that’s how the British promoter is when he signs someone.

We saw the same from Hearn when he signed Jaron Ennis, Richardson Hitchins and Demetrius Andrade. None of those fighters became stars, and Hearn seems to lose his enthusiasm quickly when they don’t become the superstars he hoped for.

We’ll likely see that soon when Shakur does poorly against Schofield next month. Hearn will stop calling Shakur’s name, and he will be invisible.

Shakur, 27, is oblivious to why he is disliked. He doesn’t engage, doesn’t stay in the pocket, and fights scared when facing opponents with power.

The only guys who dominate Stevenson are slow, old fighters with marginal talent and no power. He is often booed in his fights and doesn’t have the popularity or fighting style to get the big names to fight him.

Fan Perceptions

“They don’t watch it just to watch for the knockout. They will take the knockout blow if it comes. They will love that, but they also love to see science, and I appreciate them for that, too,” Shakur Stevenson said. talkSport Boxing about British fans.

“I’m getting more comfortable with it (being labeled ‘boring’). You have to realize that it’s not going to be war every night. A style like mine and a guy like me, I’m very dominant. I just go in and dominate. People don’t like to see someone come in and dominate.

“I’m quite used to being the young, hungry lion. Now, I have another young, hungry lion who is younger than me. I definitely don’t think he’s hungrier than me,” Shakur said of 22-year-old Floyd Schofield, who he fights on February 22.

A native of Newark, New Jersey, Shakur will have to get used to being the older fighter as he ages and approaches 30. It won’t be long before he’s one of the elder statesmen in boxing and a target will have on his back. For fighters who rely on their mobility and reflexes, they don’t last long in the sport.

Career Path

“I try to get the big names. I am trying to find the William Zepedas. I’m trying to get the Vasily Lomachenkos. If I can’t get these guys, I have to take the guys next in line. This is a guy that has been calling my phone all along,” Shakur said.

Stevenson wouldn’t have trouble getting the big names he mentioned if he wasn’t such a runner, afraid to get involved and get booed out of arenas. Fighters like Lomachenko, Zepeda and Gervonta Davis don’t want to have to chase a runner around the ring while being booed by fans. They would not be booed.

It would be Shakur, and it would be a cup of poison for people watching. You can’t blame the top fighters for wanting nothing to do with Stevenson because he’s not coming to fight.

Reluctant to move up

“After we get past him (Schofield), I’d say Zepeda and Gervonta Davis,” Shakur said of who he wants to fight the rest of the year in 2025 after defending against Kid Austin. “I’m very comfortable at 135 pounds. We’ll see after I conquer the division,” Stevenson said when asked if he’ll move up in weight like Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Shakur isn’t about to move up to 147 to take on the killers in that division because he can’t punch at 135, and he’s already shown that he’s scared to death when fighting guys with power.

While there aren’t many sluggers at the top of the welterweight division today, fighters like Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, Eimantas Stanionis and Brian Norman Jr. feasting on a weak, timid finesse-level fighter like Shakur. He couldn’t run fast enough not to get to him. They would bring in Stevenson, hunt him down, and destroy him in that order.