Why Shakur Stevenson Won’t Fight Richardson Hitchins

Shakur Stevenson says he won’t fight undefeated light welterweight contender Richardson Hitchins because “He’ll have to lift his name.” WBC lightweight champion Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) says a fight between him and Hitchins (19-0, 7 KOs) doesn’t make sense.business wise.”

Hitchins needs to build his name

Shakur says he fights in arenas and is now doing “big s***” with his career. The Matchroom Boxing promoted #1 IBF and #3 WBO ranked Hitchins is coming off a controversial 12 round unanimous decision win over Gustavo Lemos on April 6th.

Hitchins challenges IBF light welterweight champion Liam Paro for his belt on December 7 at the Roberto Clemente Coliseo in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The fight will be shown live on DAZN. If Hitchins wins that fight, Shakur could show interest, especially if he loses his WBC lightweight title in February.

Stevenson feels his popularity is ahead of Hitchins, which is interesting because hardcore boxing fans don’t like the Newark, New Jersey native. He was well maneuvered by his former promoters at Top Rank after signing with them in 2017.

Recently, Stevenson left Top Rank and signed with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom. He was supposed to debut with them against Joe Cordina on October 12, but he suffered a hand injury while training for the fight and had to cancel. Stevenson’s first fight for Matchroom will be against top ranked William Zepeda in February.

Greg Hackett: “What about you and Richardson Hitchins? Do you think that fight ever happens?” Coach Hackett tells GHBTV.

Shakur Stevenson: “I probably wouldn’t even fight ‘Africa’. That’s another one. He has been my brother for years and years. I just don’t fuck with (him) right now. In fact, I don’t f*** with him. You have to realize that a lot of these fights don’t make sense. A fight with me and Africa business wise. No disrespect to him, but I fight in arenas. I do big s***. He will have to get his name, and it is personal. That s*** is personal.”

Things could change for Shakur and Hitchins depending on the outcomes of their next fights. If Shakur loses to Zepeda and Hitchins defeats Paro, it will be interesting to see how things work out with their careers.

Shakur will need to rebuild, and he may want to move up to 140. It wouldn’t make sense for Shakur to stay at 135 if he gets knocked out badly by William Zepeda as many fans predict will happen.