Promoter Eddie Hearn confirms that he’s planning to attempt to signal Shakur Stevenson to his Matchroom secure 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 latest signee, Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, and David Avanesyan on the Wells Fargo Middle in Philadelphia. The concept 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 planet. I do know I could make him a star; that’s straightforward for me. I’ve bought the dates, I’ve bought the platform, I’ve bought the megaphone. Let’s do it,” mentioned 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 try this for him to be real, not somebody who’s common for being disliked by the general public.
Irrespective of how arduous Hearn promotes Shakur, he’s by no means going to be a crossover star within the U.S. that followers need to see as a result of he’s not a must-watch TV present. American followers need to see fighters who entertain, like Gervonta Davis, Isaac Cruz, David Benavidez, Canelo Alvarez, and Ryan Garcia.
These are the gold customary for what U.S. followers need to look ahead to leisure. Shakur suits into a special class, the place followers need to watch him extra due to his abrasive persona and his work on social media. He places in nearly as a lot work on Twitter as Ryan Garcia, which says quite a bit.
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 resolution win over Artem Harutyunyan final weekend.
Shakur’s “Mayweather Impact”
Stevenson has that Mayweather impact on individuals the place they’ll’t stand his smug mindset and the best way 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 nearly misplaced to Edwin De Los Santos final November, and that man isn’t thought-about one of many top-level fighters.
“The deal has bought to be proper, and there’s bought to be a buy-in from him that we’ve nonetheless bought a job to do, but it surely doesn’t take lengthy. You see, with Boots. If Boots shines this weekend, we’re there,” mentioned Hearn, speaking about his latest signee, IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, who defends his title this Saturday night time towards alternative opponent David Avanesyan.
Hearn won’t ever flip Shakur into one other Boots Ennis kind of fighter, the place followers need to see him struggle as a result of he’s entertaining. Nonetheless, Shakur is way extra attention-grabbing to hearken 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,” mentioned Hearn about needing to construct Shakur right into a star as a result of he’s not one now. “I price Boots high 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 remodeled into an enormous star within the U.S. Shakur can 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 have been a lot better when he was youthful than Shakur’s.
