Per Frank Bay: Shakur Twitters are boring, inside and outside the ring. Let me start by saying that the relationship between professional sports and fans is reciprocal. Sometimes athletes and owners/promoters forget this aspect. I don’t mind paying for events.
If it’s the NFL season pass or a big box -PPV, I’ll open my wallet, even against my better judgment. Yes, I am easily sucked, but I am nobody’s fool. I’ll watch Canelo Alvarez fight on Cinco de Mayo, but I don’t pay for it. No, I won’t steal it. I will probably watch it with friends and family because it is a traditional party week.
When it comes to sports, I have my boundaries for what I will go for. If I get the NFL season pass or go to a baseball game, I get what I pay for. Price doesn’t matter, but I refuse to pay for a poor product regularly. If the teams are weak, the owners do not lower the prices to reflect fan investment.
No, instead they increase the price for parking. This is why NFL and MLB teams, at least for optics, win stress. If a team wins, the fans are willing to take out a second band for season tickets. Fans are suckers and count me in that group. But when it comes to boxing and Shakur Stevenson as an example, it becomes painfully clear that the forces that only see a one-way relationship.
Boxing expects you to pay without giving you what you want. It gives you the opposite (ie Josh Padley against Stevenson) and expects you to pay even more for the next opportunity. It creates a drop -effect. Fighters expect the same.
Turkish Alalshikh aka John
Turki Alalshikh learns the hard way about boxing. On my podcast last year, I predicted that Turki would see that the cash around the Boks game would be to throw cash as if he were in a strip club.
The nuances and peculiarities deep inside box cannot be controlled or eradicated by a man with money who wants to rule with an iron fist. Boxers are more similar to actors to athletes, because like actors, boxers can choose and choose their roles, that is, their fate. Unlike the faith, boxers do not choose battles exclusively on the basis of money.
In the age of social media, after-money Mayweather-era, fighters are much more fueled by perceptions. Just look at what happened to the former clone of Mayweather-Failed Devin Haney. Look at the only fighter so far not to kiss the ring of his excellence, the previously impenetrable tank Davis to one crime. As they say, perception is reality.
Shakur, who called himself Twittson, is in front of a crossroads, and I wouldn’t be surprised when we see Shakur Stevenson sitting in the foreseeable future. Before Stevenson left the top rankings, it was reported that he was upset that Top Rank refused to feed him Lomachenko or Navarrete. Top rank stood on business.
After leaving, Stevenson conveniently left out that the top rank would like to serve him Loma and or Navarrete if he signed with them again. Common sense would have told Twitters that the top rankings had to replace a star like Loma with Shakur, because it is very likely that he would have beaten the elderly veteran.
I’m not sure how deceived or misleading Stevenson is to think that Top Rank would report themselves to give him Loma and Lomachenko’s belt, just to see how they left them as if they were 7 months pregnant.
Top rank and good riddance
Fast forward, and Shakur signed with Hearn, which works closely with Turki. Hearn signed Shakur with agreements in place. Hearn met Turki Shakur, and they shook hand. Shakur was told what was expected of him. Shakur claims he wants big fights.
He was now in a position with people who could make it happen, or so we thought. About the fact that you are careful what you want, Shakur Stevenson got his battle orders and he has now gone AWOL. As fighters discuss how the business to fight, the promoter offers the fighters a list of possible opponents.
Then the fighter and his team are made to choose from the given options. Each fight holds an option for risks to reward. The fighter must choose or be forced to sit. If a fighter refuses a fight that is within contractual obligations, the promoter can let the fighter put.
The contract works both ways. A promoter must comply with the obligation of, for example, to give their fighter 3 fights within a certain timeframe. If there is a problem, the fighter has about two options. Options we have seen have fighters of knowledge Mikey Garcia and Andre Ward emerged.
One fights to come out legally, which can cost more money than it is worth, or to sit and wait until the contract expires. Theofimo recently tried to get out of his contract with Harvard Grad and former lawyer Bob Arum.
The statement was that Teo was not one last battle. The top rank counteracted and claimed that Teo decided to refuse a battle date, which is why they were within their right to let him sit. In the end, they solved their problems, and that’s one way it works. If Turki had not come theofimo, he would still sit on the sidelines.
Will Stevenson suffer the same fate? I am willing to bet he doesn’t mind taking a Sabbath day, especially if the WBC allows him to pull a Jermall Charlo and be champion for years without a fight. Remember, Shakur Stevenson has already thrown a brilliant pace and retired amid his highest rank dissatisfaction.
Turki never thought the leopard would eat his face. Not one year in and Tyson Fury retires from him without fighting against Anthony Joshua, Jaron Ennis shows an important struggle, and now Stevenson says thank you, no thanks. Worse than that, after being paid nicely to sign with Hearn and paying much more money than he earned to fight a part -time Electrician Padley on a short notice on a bottom map, he turns and bites the hand that feeds him and his promoter. A very short -sighted action if you ask me.
Fool me once shame you
I consider myself a bet man, and I am willing to bet that the scenario played out something like this: Turki told Shakur that he would pay him fairly. Shakur then had to start twisting the narrative by omitting important context. He claims Turki went back to his word.
Shakur accused Turki of promising a certain amount of money for the William Zepeda fight. But when it was offered to him, it was much less than the first time promised, and he shot it down accordingly. It sounds reasonable and probably happens in boxing all the time. I mean, it’s called for a reason negotiation.
But let me tell you something, in a word to the way: When it comes to negotiations, and especially goat negotiations, once they have become viral, that is, someone negotiates in public, no less on Twitter, then it is over. It’s not going to happen.
All the Shakur trying to negotiate on social media is to be first, so he can turn the social narrative and turn to turn it into his favor. His only hope is to get enough mindless fan support to heal his fragile ego. The small social support he currently receives from his cycophante is enough to feed his narcissism. The rest of us see it for what it is: a massive duck
I assume Turki Ali told Shakur, “Look, Shakur, I know the money I offer to Zepeda is less than original, but it’s because I kindly reward you for the inconvenience of fighting a late replacement and paying you a lot too much for Padley.
The numbers will show that I am more than generous in the new offer. “As you can see, Turki looked at the numbers and saw what someone could see about twitters, that he was not worth it. His attitude and reaction to Turki’s generosity just proves it further.
Turki, like me, is a fool, but he is nobody’s dupe. From Turki’s point of view, he fulfills his promises and obligations with Shakur. He paid him too much for Padley against better judgment, but did it to make him happy, do him a favor and keep him active.
Now, Turki, he thinks he will make the same reasonable reciprocal decision, was left as if he was a side that Shakur could throw away. Shakur seems to intend to burn another bridge as if there are hundreds more in boxing.
What Turki offers is almost the same amount for the two battles. He realizes that he paid too much for the Padley battle, so he wants to reduce the battle on the back. Is it less than fair? I don’t argue, in fact, when we realize as fans, we realized that Turki did him a favor and paid him more than he was worth in the first place.
Fans kept the suitcase away
The fans have been having a Zepeda vs Shakur match for more than a year. While I talked earlier about boxing that we give what we want, we just saw it going up in smoke. Zepeda was accused at a time of being the duck, but I think it is safe to assume that he will no longer be blamed.
In a little comedy, I see that his cycophants are trying to turn a narrative spiritual gymnastics turn and find a way to accuse Zepeda and De la Hoya of being the real ducks. One narrative twist is that it is price fights and it is about ‘the bag’. That’s why Shakur is not a duck and is a smart businessman.
But where I see the striking hypocrisy, it’s also the same fans as Canelo Alvares and any other fighter who does the same, bash. Alvarez is the top public enemy to choose wisely and take $ 100 million for William Scull.
Yet you will hear tons of praise that Shakur is doing the same thing without the same awards or a massive fan to fall. When Floyd Mayweather reached his ‘The Bag’ phase, he had all the praise and built-in fan base.
In my opinion, this was a short-sighted, self-sabotage move. Canelo can swing someone he wants, because there is someone willing to pay him to do it. Shakur does not have another Turki-like figure in his back pocket that will save him and pay him to fight against another scrub.
Shakur has let himself down because I don’t want to see anyone who is willing to pay him big money. He will not be paid for soft touch again, and he will not get the big names and money he demands, because everyone sees that he has no options.
Shakur and his team sucked Turki and Duped Hearn, who should be between a rock and a hard place, and scratched his head for what he was going to do next. But while Turki can wash his hands with the ingrate, Hearn is stuck with this albatross.
In the end, it is the fans who are left behind. We allowed Shakur to get so far without holding him accountable. Many fans said with his narrative that everyone bent him.
People accepted the Padley battle because Scholfield pulled out wasn’t his fault, and we got Zepeda next. But it seems to be the last straw until even his steadfast fans no longer pay for his fights.
Last updated on 04/12/2025
