For years, going back almost to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, I have had a steadfast belief that Shakur Stevenson would one day become the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the world. There was little he couldn't do in the ring. He had incredibly quick hands and feet. Like Floyd Mayweather, he had a certain defensive radar that allowed him to slip incoming punches. While he has never been a powerful puncher in the sense of a Mike Tyson, his quickness and timing make him accurate and he'll land punches that opponents don't see, which frequently hurt them.
He's won world titles at featherweight, super featherweight and lightweight, and he's fashioned a record of 22-0 with 10 knockouts since turning pro.
He's just turned 27 and is in the prime of his career. On Oct. 12 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, he'll fight Joe Cordina on the undercard of the undisputed light heavyweight title fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
He's accomplished an enormous amount, but he's still somehow a disappointment.
On Thursday, he signed a new promotional deal with Matchroom Sport after his previous promoter, Top Rank, didn't make all that much of an effort to sign an unbeaten champion in his prime. Golden Boy's Oscar De La Hoya is often erratic, but he said on social media that he was gung ho to sign Stevenson, then quickly seemed to back away and changed course.
It was strange to see.
Knowing his many gifts, it's hard to understand why every promoter in the business wasn't beating a path to his front door in an effort to sign him.
But after watching his last few fights, I think I understand it.
I'm for the first time not so certain he'll be the No. 1 fighter in the world, or that he deserves even to be in the Top 10. I have him ranked No. 10 at this stage, but he has others hot on his heels.
He routed Artem Harutyunyan on July 6 in his most recent fight, but it was hardly a scintillating performance. And that fight was coming off a dreadful performance in a victory over Edwin De Los Santos on Nov. 16 in Las Vegas.
He fights now almost life his confidence is hurt. He's never going to remind anyone of Arturo Gatti. The next time you seem him rush out of the corner at the bell, run to the center of the ring and start randomly firing punches in all directions will be the first time.
But he's keeping the weapons in the holster far too long. He's not using the talents he has, at least offensively, to their fullest.
If his confidence is low, choosing Eddie Hearn as his promoter won't hurt. Hearn knows how to compliment a fighter and butt kiss him enough to help pump him up. Top Rank founder Bob Arum has done that for years, but at 92, Arum's days of kissing butt are long over, and it's never been Top Rank president Todd duBoef's thing.
In announcing Stevenson's signing, Hearn raved about him.
“I am delighted to welcome what I believe is a pound-for-pound great to the Matchroom team,” Hearn said. "Shakur Stevenson is 27 and already a three-division world champion and might be unbeatable in the sport of boxing. This young man should be a global superstar, and I believe with our machine behind him, he will land all the big fights and receive all the credit that he deserves.
"The journey begins on Oct. 12 in Riyadh on a huge card, and we cannot wait for the future together.”
Perhaps Stevenson got bored. There are plenty of good fights at lightweight for him, but bouts against the likes of William Zepeda and most notably Gervonta Davis never seemed to be on the table. He was on the same team as Vasiliy Lomachenko and that fight was never close to being made even though both were promoted by Top Rank.
When I asked Davis in June about fighting Stevenson after Davis had knocked out Frank Martin, Davis said, "We all know how that would go," intimating that Stevenson would run and refuse to engage.
Now, Stevenson called out Zepeda and alluded to the fact it's been difficult to get opponents to sign to fight him.
“I've made it clear that I want the biggest names and the biggest fights in the sport," Stevenson said. "Bring on William Zepeda at the top of 2025 and I'm ready for anyone who is brave enough to step in the ring with me. There have been few willing to take on that challenge in recent years."
Stevenson has elite, rare talent. Hopefully this change in promoters will propel him to make the most of it.
He's got to be true to his word, though, and demand that Hearn deliver on his promise and bring fights against the likes of Davis, Zepeda and other elites in and around his weight class.
Maybe if that happens, others will understand why I'd been so high on him for so long.
