Shakur Stevenson is pleased with his performance last Saturday night, stopping Josh Padley within the ninth round in a successful defense of his WBC lightweight title at The Venue in Riyadh.
Stevenson (23-0, 11 KOs) boasts that he displayed the “art of hit and don’t get hit” in his victory over Padley (15-1, 4 KOs), who was chosen by his promoter, Eddie Hearn, because the substitute for the ailing Floyd Schofield.
Tank Fight Still a Dream
It wasn’t the impressive performance that the 2016 Olympic silver medalist Stevenson needed to impress the fans or to make a case for him deserving a fight against Gervonta Davis next. For that low-level opponent, Shakur needed a first-round knockout because Padley wasn’t world-class. Stevenson’s popularity didn’t increase with that performance.
It was more of a step backward for Shakur, who fought like he couldn’t fight in the next gear. He stood straight up, threw arm punches, and darted away when attacked. It was very timid stuff and never interesting to look at. Turki Alalshikh must have placed the Shakur-Padley fight at the beginning of Saturday’s event with the Mohammed Alakel vs. Engel Gomez and Ziyad Almaayouf vs. Jonatas Rodrigo Gomes de Oliveira fights.
After the fight, Shakur and Hearn each called out WBA lightweight champion Tank, wanting him next for a unification fight. Each claimed that a Tank-Stevenson unification is the “Biggest fight in boxing.” They each know obviously that it wasn’t near a very good enough performance against the weakest fighter that could possibly be found to lure Tank Davis right into a fight.
A Manufactured Fighter?
If Hearn isn’t willing to match Shakur against good fighters for fear he’ll lose, he deserves to be ignored by Tank. If a slick promoter protects a fighter, as we see with Stevenson, they don’t rate sharing the ring. Without delay, Shakur looks like a typical manufactured fighter, protected by his promoters with the only real object of getting one big money fight after which discarded as worthless junk after he loses. In other words, Stevenson is a fake Milli Vanilli-like creation.
Hearn must match Shakur against these fighters to point out that he’s for real:
- Abdullah Mason
- Andy Cruz
- Ernesto Mercado
- Raymond Muratalla
- William Zepeda
“It was an incredible performance. I showed the art of hit and don’t get hit,” said Shakur Stevenson to the media after his ninth-round TKO win over ham and egger Josh Padley last Saturday night in Riyadh. “I actually didn’t get touched like that, but I put the hands on him.
“Respect Josh Padley for stepping up and doing what a whole lot of people don’t wish to do. A variety of people don’t wish to get within the ring with me. So, I appreciate him,” Shakur continued. “The explanation they don’t wish to get within the ring with me is because I understand ‘hit and don’t get hit.’
“I adore it,” said Shakur when asked about his response to being booed by fans. “Josh Padley is six hours away in London. So, he probably has more fans here than me, but I shut them up. They stopped talking, and got quiet and I did what I used to be alleged to do.”
Many fighters would have been willing to fight Shakur, but the cash was never there to fight him. He’s a southpaw with an unpleasant defensive style, which involves running. His fights are booed, and there’s never been a reason for any top-level fighter to wish to face that form of guy. If Turki Alalshikh desires to lure Tank Davis with gazillions or one in all the opposite talented fighters like Andy Cruz, he can do it, however the jig will probably be up for Shakur. He’s not going to beat either of those fighters and can likely look bad in losing.
Last Updated on 02/23/2025
