Shakur Stevenson, WBC light-weight champion, might be a promotional free agent after his title protection in opposition to Artem Harutyunyan this Saturday night time on the Prudential Heart in Newark, New Jersey.
The battle would be the 26-year-old Shakur’s final underneath his contract with Bob Arum’s firm, High Rank. Shakur (21-0, 10 KOs) hasn’t given any hints of the place he’ll go to subsequent or if he’ll stick with Arum.
The Attract of Matchroom Boxing
Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn has expressed curiosity in signing Stevenson, nevertheless it’s unknown if he’s keen to satisfy the asking value of the 2016 Olympic silver medalist.
The way in which Shakur talks, he views himself as a mega-star within the Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis mould, and he hasn’t proven himself to be an entertaining fighter that would pan out for Hearn or any promoter to provide him an costly contract.
It’s believed that Shakur will quickly get a battle in opposition to Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, however that one might wreck his little reputation, particularly if he runs across the ring in opposition to him as he did in 5 of a very powerful fights of his quick seven-year profession.
Shakur has a nasty repute for being a runner, and he’s finished nothing that will refute that rep in his current fights.
If Hearn indicators Shakur, he could possibly be caught with a fighter that the highest guys keep away from, and he has nothing to supply him however Cuban Andy Cruz and a handful of his 140-lb fighters, who he would have little curiosity in combating.
The blokes that Hearn has across the 135 and 140-lb weight courses aren’t ones that Shakur can be enthusiastic about combating. It might result in Shakur being sad, grumbling, and speaking about wanting to go away Hearn as soon as his contract was up.
The Threat of Undercard Demotion
Provided that Shakur is almost obsessive about combating Tank Davis, the one firm that is smart for him to signal with is PBC as a result of they may probably line him up with a battle in opposition to him. However past the Tank battle, there’s not a lot else PBC can provide Shakur, and he may discover it troublesome to remain energetic in the event that they solely have a handful of dates to supply.
If Shakur’s fights don’t convey within the numbers for PBC on Amazon Prime, he might discover himself caught combating on undercards like we’re seeing with David Benavidez.
The very last thing PBC wants is to lose its broadcast spot with Amazon on account of its headliners failing to usher in viewers. It might be dangerous for PBC to maintain Shakur as a headliner on their playing cards if followers aren’t taken with seeing him.
That wouldn’t be good for Shakur’s profession to be demoted to undercard slots, nevertheless it’s about bringing within the numbers. PBC would need their common fighters to be given the selection spots, and Shakur’s type doesn’t appeal to the followers.
