Shakur Stevenson (22-0) successfully defended his WBC Lightweight Title this past Saturday via unanimous decision against Artem Harutyunyan (12-2). It was Stevenson’s last fight on the Top Rank boxing contract.
WBC Lightweight Champion turned down Top Rank’s $15 million contract extension and became a free agent. Stevenson stated in an interview that he is considering joining Floyd Mayweather’s Mayweather Promotions or Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing.
Eddie Hearn appeared on Seconds Out, where he was asked about signing Shakur Stevenson to his promotion. Hearn was thrilled with Stevenson’s ratings on ESPN and said that he could make Stevenson a star.
“I think right now Shakur Stevenson is one of the most talked-about fighters in the world. Right now, and it’s been like this for a while, it’s Shakur against the world. There’s no promoter, there’s no mouthpiece, there’s no megaphone saying, ‘This kid’s pound-for-pound elite; this kid’s doing pound-for-pound numbers in Europe. Look at the ratings of this kid on ESPN. Instead, it’s just him battling away on Twitter, which I don’t always recommend because I think you can just never win.
The reality is, and I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Shakur Stevenson may be unbeatable. Shakur is brilliant. Sometimes his style is not all-out aggressive, Arturo Gatti. But guess what? He’s winning these fights really fighting them the way he wants to fight.
I think when you see him fight [Gervonta] ‘Tank’ [Davis], when you see him fight maybe even [William] Zepeda, you’re going to see the best Shakur Stevenson. I know I can make him a star because that’s easy for me, in all honesty. For me, it’s easy work with Shakur Stevenson. I’ve got the dates, I’ve got the platform, I’ve got the megaphone. Let’s do it. But the deal’s got to be right for everybody.”