WBC light-weight champion Shakur Stevenson wants a “Floyd Mayweather second,” in accordance with Teddy Atlas, to construct his reputation within the boxing group.
Atlas factors out that earlier in his profession, Mayweather beat up and stopped a giant puncher, Diego Corrales, in a combat that elevated his fanbase. Mayweather did it as a giant puncher, and that helped his profession.
A Knockout Efficiency Wanted
Shakur (21-0, 10 KOs) isn’t going through a slugger this Saturday in his protection towards Artem Harutyunyan (13-1, 7 KOs) on the Prudential Heart in Newark, New Jersey.
It might nonetheless assist if Shakur deserted his ordinary safety-first combating fashion and went for a knockout of their ESPN-televised conflict towards the Germany-based 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Harutyunyan.
Ups and Downs, However Nonetheless Subsequent-Degree
“He has an ideal novice background, an Olympian. As a professional, he’s been transferring alongside very quick, progressing nice,” stated boxing skilled Chris Algieri to Probox TV, speaking about WBC light-weight champion Shakur Stevenson.
Shakur has solely had two fights since transferring as much as light-weight, beating Edwin De Los Santos by an in depth twelve-round unanimous determination in a combat that gave the impression to be a draw final November, and Shuichiro Yoshino.
Stevenson was presupposed to look good towards De Los Santos, however he actually struggled. Afterward, his excuses about being injured didn’t persuade anybody. He simply regarded scared out of his wits by De Los Santos’ energy, and we’d seen the identical factor from Shakur in his fights towards Jeremiah Nakathilia and Joet Gonzalez. You’ll be able to solely conclude that he’s timid, except he was injured in these fights too,
“He’s had some ups and down by way of what individuals take into consideration his performances, however all boxing individuals perceive what they’re watching, perceive that he’s a next-level man. He would give anybody hassle if not beat everybody round him,” stated Algieri.
The issue is that Shakur hasn’t proven next-level capacity. He appears to be like like a poor man’s model of Guillermo Rigondeaux, minus the large energy that he had. Shakur’s working makes him unwatchable, and he all the time fights that method, not only for the De Los Santos match.
“I feel lots of people nonetheless within the group that will say that he may beat all of those guys, and he can,” stated Algieri about some followers believing Shakur can beat all the highest lightweights. “He positively has that capacity. The pound-for-pound guys are all the time the fellows with the most effective protection. Protection is what separates champions.”
Some followers assume Shakur can beat all of the 135-pounders, however most don’t. A number of fighters will reap the benefits of Shakur’s timid fashion of combating to load up on him.
Not the Most Thrilling Fighter
“The elite guys don’t get hit. Shakur is among the finest defensive fighters within the sport in the present day, and he creates plenty of openings. The problem is he’s not probably the most thrilling fighter in any respect, which is me being good. Numerous guys assume he’s very boring,” stated Algieri.
“To the boxing purists, they love what he does, however to the boxing followers which might be in search of thrilling fights, they most likely dislike Shakur Stevenson,” stated Algieri.
“He’s not solely arduous to beat however to look good towards. That’s why plenty of guys don’t wish to combat him,” stated Teddy Atlas about Shakur. “There’s no getting round it. He’s boring. It depends upon what your style is.
“If you wish to see residence runs, you keep at residence. You’re not watching Stevenson.”
