Promoter Eddie Hearn confirms that he’s planning to attempt to signal Shakur Stevenson to his Matchroom steady and believes he can “make him a star” fairly simply along with his promotional assist.
Hearn’s Confidence in Making Shakur a “Star”
Hearn states that Shakur will attend this Saturday’s struggle between Matchroom’s current signee, Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, and David Avanesyan on the Wells Fargo Middle in Philadelphia. The thought is for WBC light-weight champion Shakur to be seen by the general public and for Hearn to lure him into the Matchroom fold.
“Shakur Stevenson is without doubt one of the most talked about fighters on the earth. I do know I could make him a star; that’s simple for me. I’ve obtained the dates, I’ve obtained the platform, I’ve obtained the megaphone. Let’s do it,” stated Eddie Hearn to Seconds out.
It’s questionable whether or not Hearn can flip Shakur right into a PPV star, and he would want to do this for him to be real, not somebody who’s widespread for being disliked by the general public.
Irrespective of how exhausting Hearn promotes Shakur, he’s by no means going to be a crossover star within the U.S. that followers wish to see as a result of he’s not a must-watch TV present. American followers wish to see fighters who entertain, like Gervonta Davis, Isaac Cruz, David Benavidez, Canelo Alvarez, and Ryan Garcia.
These are the gold normal for what U.S. followers wish to look ahead to leisure. Shakur suits into a special class, the place followers wish to watch him extra due to his abrasive persona and his work on social media. He places in virtually as a lot work on Twitter as Ryan Garcia, which says loads.
Hearn rightly factors out that Shakur (22-0, 14 KOs) is without doubt one of the fighters most talked about within the boxing ring now. None of Shakur’s critics can dispute that he’s being talked about greater than anybody following his lackluster twelve-round unanimous choice win over Artem Harutyunyan final weekend.
Shakur’s “Mayweather Impact”
Stevenson has that Mayweather impact on folks the place they will’t stand his conceited mindset and the way in which that he brags about himself endlessly however then fails to again it up contained in the ring by placing on boring performances one after one other.
If Hearn indicators Shakur, he should attempt to put collectively a struggle with Gervonta Davis or Vasily Lomachenko quick as a result of he gained’t final lengthy earlier than he will get crushed. Stevenson virtually misplaced to Edwin De Los Santos final November, and that man isn’t thought-about one of many top-level fighters.
“The deal has obtained to be proper, and there’s obtained to be a buy-in from him that we’ve nonetheless obtained a job to do, however it doesn’t take lengthy. You see, with Boots. If Boots shines this weekend, we’re there,” stated Hearn, speaking about his current signee, IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, who defends his title this Saturday evening in opposition to substitute opponent David Avanesyan.
Hearn won’t ever flip Shakur into one other Boots Ennis kind of fighter, the place followers wish to see him struggle as a result of he’s entertaining. Nonetheless, Shakur is way extra fascinating to take heed to than Boots, who has little or no to say and doesn’t have the identical charismatic persona.
“You’re speaking about one of many greatest stars within the sport already, and I can do this with Shakur easy-work,” stated Hearn about needing to construct Shakur right into a star as a result of he’s not one now. “I price Boots prime 5 pound-for-pound, and the identical for Shakur.”
The Want for Excessive-Profile Fights
With out Shakur beating Tank Davis, Vasily Lomachenko, and William Zepeda, he isn’t going to be reworked into a giant star within the U.S. Shakur will probably be an Adrien Broner kind of fighter, the place he talks sport throughout interviews and press conferences, however is boring and underperforming in his fights. Broner’s performances had been a lot better when he was youthful than Shakur’s.
