Teddy Atlas, pod host, suspects that High Rank didn’t wish to re-sign Shakur Stevenson as a result of he wasn’t good for enterprise. They wouldn’t have let him get near free company in the event that they needed to maintain Shakur.
High Rank’s Hidden Agenda
Atlas believes High Rank deliberately matched Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) in opposition to a weaker opponent, Artem Harutyunyan, final Saturday evening, understanding there was a superb probability he would fail to impress in victory. They knew he’d win, however he would present his shortcomings.
Shakur might have impressed by destroying Harutyunyan, however that’s not his type of preventing. He did attempt to rating a knockout, however he couldn’t do it and wound up trying poor as at all times.
Based mostly on that efficiency, Atlas believes that Shakur might have problem discovering one other promoter concerned about signing him until they’ll produce Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis for him, which might make some huge cash in a one-fight deal. Aside from that, Shakur isn’t value paying a lot to, and his fights fail to usher in rankings, promote tickets, or do properly on PPV.
Atlas Questions High Rank’s Motives
“I don’t suppose they needed to signal him. They let him turn into a free agent,” stated Teddy Atlas on his YouTube channel about his perception that High Rank wasn’t actually concerned about re-signing Shakur Stevenson.
“In the event that they needed him, they wouldn’t have let him get that far. They picked an opponent that wasn’t that onerous,” stated Atlas on High Rank selecting a simple possibility, giving him Artem Harutyunyan for Shakur’s ultimate battle of his contract with them.
Shakur doubtless needed a large contract for him to re-sign with High Rank, which wouldn’t have made sense for them until he turned a PPV attraction and if they might match him in opposition to Tank Davis and Vasily Lomachenko.
Stevenson would doubtless by no means be a PPV draw until he was preventing these two, and it’s questionable whether or not High Rank might have made these fights.
“In the event that they actually needed to eliminate him, they might have put him in with a man they thought might beat him, as a result of then they know he’s leaving. So that they attempt to do him a unclean on the way in which out. They know that, they usually couldn’t afford to pay for that,” stated Atlas.
“So that they went the opposite route. ‘We’re going to provide him a man he ought to shine with,’ and I feel they thought he wouldn’t as a result of they know what he’s. He’s a terrific expertise, however he’s not thrilling.
“You set him in with a man that he can dismantle, however you additionally know he might present his shortcomings, too. It’s an leisure enterprise. He’s going to point out why we let his contract run out. High Rank made him a millionaire,” stated Atlas about Shakur.
Stevenson doubtless didn’t get the cash in his contract with High Rank that we noticed Ryan Garcia get from one battle in opposition to Tank Davis. Shakur’s failure to turn into a PPV attraction for High Rank damage his money-making capability.
“They put him in a battle the place he’s going to sink or swim and present whether or not he’s going to get some other folks , clamoring once more and networks clamoring to place him on. I don’t know many individuals that may pay $80 for PPV for him,” stated Atlas about Shakur.
Stevenson’s efficiency in opposition to Hartuyunyan won’t damage his marketability if a possible promoter like Matchroom, PBC, or Mayweather Promotions can produce Tank Davis or if they’ll shield him lengthy sufficient to show him into one other Floyd clone.
Shakur doesn’t have Mayweather’s expertise, however he’s conceited like he was throughout his profession and has the same method of getting followers to look at his fights by them desirous to see him lose.
Stevenson’s Marketability and Future Choices
“If that’s the case, why would High Rank wish to re-sign him? It’s a enterprise. It’s about what number of seats he can promote and the PPV he can promote. If that was their objective, they completed that,” stated Atlas about High Rank, placing Shakur in with a fighter he was imagined to dominate however didn’t, decreasing his marketability as he was going out the door into free company.
It’s not High Rank’s fault that Shakur did not impress in opposition to a fighter that he was imagined to dominate. If Shakur is as he tells followers, he ought to have destroyed Harutyunyan, on condition that he’s a fringe contender coming off a loss to Frank Martin.
This was somebody that different light-weight fighters would have simply overwhelmed. Even the 20-year-old prospect Abdullah Mason would have doubtless made simple work of Harutyunyanm, however he’s not rated within the high 15 at light-weight.
