Eddie Hearn’s long-term interest in promoting Shakur Stevenson remains in doubt despite his glowing comments about believing he is a future “global superstar” in the making.
The relationship between the two is likely to last as long as Shakur keeps winning. Once Stevenson suffers his first loss, he will be fish food, probably thrown overboard by the British promoter.
No ‘Red Carpet’ for Shakur
Some believe Hearn will abandon hopes of turning Shakur, 27, into a “worldwide” star after suffering his first loss. Stevenson probably won’t be given the red carpet treatment like Anthony Joshua with a fake four-fight rebuilding process after losing.
AJ brings in total cash for his UK fights, and UK fans will likely continue to pay to watch him no matter how many times he gets beaten. Things are different in the US, especially if you have a boring, non-engaging fighting style like Shakur Stevenson. Americans don’t want to pay to watch fighters run around the ring for 12 rounds like Shakur usually does.
AJ lost twice in a row, but Hearn sat by his side and showed loyalty and willingness to keep his career going through artificial methods by feeding him cans. Things will be different for Shakur. One loss could spell the end of his alliance with Hearn.
We’ll likely see Shakur get thrown overboard by Hearn and give up after being knocked out by William Zepeda or Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.
Rebuilding Shakur, as Hearn did with Joshua, will require investment in money, time and patience. If Shakur was a massive PPV attraction like AJ was in the UK, Hearn would be on board to overhaul him after Zepeda or Tank Davis reduced him to dust. That is not the reality of this situation.
Shakur can’t sell
Shakur can’t sell tickets, and he’s not a PPV attraction. Hearn will see for himself next month when Shakur headlines the undercard against Joe Cordina on October 12th on PPV for $14.99.
Hearn wouldn’t want to deal with the headaches that come with overpaid contenders agreeing to fight Shakur, and he certainly wouldn’t be interested in overpaying for mismatches.
If Hearn thinks that trying to set up fights for IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis against the champions at 147 has been a nightmare, just wait and see what it will be like for him trying to get fights for Shakur at 135. Zepeda or Tank beats him.
Without his Honorable Turki Alalshikh helping fund opponents for Shakur, I don’t see Hearn wanting to come up with the money to rebuild Shakur after he gets blown into the next galaxy by Zepeda or Tank.
Must-win battles
Matchroom promoter Hearn has a three-fight plan for WBC lightweight champion Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs):
- Joe Cordina
- William Zepeda
- Gervonta Davis
There is an excellent chance that Shakur’s short run as one of Hearn’s Matchroom stable fighters will end with his fight against Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs). We’ve seen Hearn give up on American fighters in the past after they failed to become stars for him. One example was Demetrius Andrade.
Hearn made a superficial attempt to turn him into a star, matching him against mainly British fighters at the domestic level and then choosing not to renew Andrade’s contract when he was not popular. He was downright blunt about how he messed up the job with Demetrius, and now he’s doing the same thing with Shakur.
Stevenson has never fought a pressure fighter who throws so many punches, cuts off the ring and possesses Zepeda’s power. I see Shakur losing that battle and completely breaking down in a one-sided affair.
It will be interesting for three rounds, but Zepeda will catch up to Shakur by the fourth round and knock him out, just as he did with slugger Giovanni Cabrera on July 6th.
🔥 @ShakurStevenson in the laboratory 🥼🧪
📸 via shakursevenson/IG pic.twitter.com/0nxbLrvOGT
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) September 8, 2024
