Fans are critical of the decision to air the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol card to be distributed on October 12 from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The entire Beterbiev-Bivol undercard, headlined by Shakur Stevenson vs. Joe Cordina, will now be shown live on DAZN PPV for an unspecified price in the U.S. In contrast, the main event, the undisputed light heavyweight championship fight between undefeated 175-lb unified champion Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) and WBA champion Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs ) , will be shown on ESPN+ for free to subscribers on the same night.
Fans reject Stevenson PPV Headliner
American fans are rebelling on social media, saying they feel the entire undercard, including the match between WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson and Joe Cordina, is terrible and not worth paying for. The only fight Americans consider worthy of watching on the October 12th card is Beterbiev vs. Bivol, and now it has been moved to ESPN+.
Stevenson recently signed a two-fight deal with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing, but he’s not yet a PPV fighter, and it’s highly doubtful he ever will be. American fans on social media don’t want to see Shakur headline against the little-known 32-year-old Cordina, especially the rest of the undercard, which they consider “Mid.”
Hearn talked about turning Shakur into a “world star”. That won’t happen because his fighting style is a dime a dozen. There are tons of runners like him who can’t draw flies and never will because fans don’t like to see that garbage of fighters.
DAZN PPV on October 12
– Shakur Stevenson vs. Joe Cordina – Headliner
– Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Kamil Szeremeta
– Fabio Wardley vs Frazier Clarke
– Jai Opetaia vs. Jack Massey
– Ben Whitaker vs Liam Cameron
– Skye Nicholson vs. Raven Chapman
– Mohammed Alakel vs. Jesus Gonzalez
DAZN PPV Map that needs updating
DAZN needs to find a better main event for the October 12th PPV card and Shakur vs. Cordina buried near the middle or bottom of the undercard. Stevenson, 27, is unwatchable, and his opponent is terrifying beyond words. Shakur is the most horrible fighter to watch in the sport and should not be in the spotlight on PPV cards.
There’s still time to find a quality headliner for the main event for the DAZN portion of the card, so that shouldn’t be a problem.
I would put Stevenson-Cordina near the start of the card and put the quality fights at the top to interest American fans.
They were willing to pay before because the Beterbiev vs. Bivol fight was the main event, but they are interested in seeing boring, safety-first Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) as a headliner against former IBF super featherweight champion Cordina (17-1, 9 KOs), fresh off a knockout loss to Anthony Cacace on May 18.
