Shakur Stevenson: Shutout, or Shutdown?

Bob Arum and Top Rank have continued to make large strides in the boxing community, delivering cards that demand the attention of both the casual fan and boxing purists. With the 2023 calendar year coming to a rather quick close, many promoters are scrambling to make stay-busy fights happen within the next month, and first quarter of 2024. David Benavidez and Demetrius “Boo-Boo” Andrade fought to a spectacular 6th-round finish, Ryan Garcia prepares to take on Oscar Duarte this coming week, and Deontay Wilder caps off a wonderful night of heavyweight boxing Bob Arum's promotion was able to put on a wonderful event, with many people citing Emmanuel Navarrete vs. Robson Conceição as the best fight on the card. Teofimo Lopez, Floyd Mayweather, Andre Ward, and Terrence Crawford were all in attendance, watching closely from ringside. The co-main event being the best fight on the card is a shocking revelation, but this all pieces together nicely when one looks at the fallout of the Shakur Stevenson main event. For context, Shakur had been out of the ring for 7 months after defeating Shuichiro Yoshino by knockout. In these 7 months, Shakur continued to remind the world that he was a serious threat to the lightweight division through social media and interviews conducted by boxing media outlets. The combat sports community trusted Shakur because of his already deep amateur experience, as well as the fact that he had already become a two-weight world champion. If Shakur had no real credit to his name through world championships in two different weight classes and the Olympics, he would have been brushed off similar to the way George Kambosos was by the public within the last few months. The social media buildup for Shakur was intense, and it appeared as if Shakur's next opponent would be flat on his back by the time the first round closed. As we all know, on last Thursday evening's card, Shakur did not deliver this spine-shivering knockout. The knockout that the combat sports public was salivating over never reached them. Instead, Shakur opted to box and keep things simple. From round 1 to round 12, Shakur never took a major risk with his shot selection. He never so much as broke a sweat in the ring, remaining patient and composed even when the crowd was against him. It was truly a display of emotional intelligence in the ring, many people would have lost their patience or given up completely. 

He fought where he was most comfortable with a one-hit knockout artist, and that meant boxing on the outside. People such as Devin Haney have come under fire recently for fighting this way, it isn't a very television-friendly style. The average consumer of combat sports has no interest in the technicians, very few acknowledge Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whittaker's excellence, and many still deny Floyd Mayweather Jr. his credit by saying that he "ran around the ring", when in actuality he was a defensively sound fighter who heavily weighed his shot selection on risk vs. reward. Shakur Stevenson is no different. In the media, Shakur is being vilified. Dubbed "Shakira Twitterson" by his opponent, Dominican superstar Edwin de Los Santos, it has become increasingly difficult to ignore the way that people are talking about him. Shakur is being called a boring fighter, a shadow of defensive masters such as Floyd Mayweather. All of this couldn't be further from the truth. While one cannot excuse inactivity in the ring, it is important to remember how dangerous it is to be on the receiving end of a concussive blow. Edwin de Los Santos had arguably the biggest upset victory of 2022, knocking out "El Rayo" Valenzuela cold. If you guys remember, "El Rayo" was one of PBC Showtime's biggest prospects. There was a major hype train surrounding him, then boom. Immediately destroyed after he stopped fighting sub-par to decent competition. After beating "El Rayo", de Los Santos took on Joseph Adorno, who he beat by unanimous decision. What led to de Los Santos getting the fight with Shakur was the classic situation of ducking. Lomachenko declined to fight Shakur, Pitbull Cruz declined to fight Shakur, and Frank Martin declined to fight Shakur. The WBC and Shakur kept going down the list of contenders, making calls and sending emails until it came down to Edwin de Los Santos. He was the only person to respond with enthusiasm, it was clear from the day that he was offered the fight that de Los Santos wanted nothing more than to prove to the world that he is a world-class talent. Unfortunately for de Los Santos and the audience, he was not able to display his entire skill-set. Although the fight looked slow and boring to the average person, there were several challenges that de Los Santos faced. Firstly, Shakur’s distance management. Shakur was too elusive for de Los Santos to be able to land a solid punch, and it was taking a big toll on his offensive ability. As the fight progressed he became more frustrated, taunting Shakur with running motions and shaking his head whenever Shakur darted out of danger.

Despite not doing much other than being the comedic relief for the fans, de Los Santos maintains his innocence and has continuously made attempts to alleviate himself of guilt. Their fight was supposed to be the world championship match that determined the future of 135, this fight was supposed to determine who would be making big power plays while Devin Haney is off chasing greatness at 140. Instead, all the public has is a heavily questionable 12-round fight and a champion who has to defend himself from his own fans. It will be interesting to see how both men move on from such a lackluster performance. Edwin de Los Santos crossed the street, which is something that a lot of people forget. As a fighter signed to Premier Boxing Champions, it would have been monumental for de Los Santos to win and bring the WBC Lightweight World Championship back to the Dominican Republic, as well as to his promotion. Al Haymon and PBC have been trying to gain control of the lightweight division for years, originally betting on Gervonta "Tank" Davis to get the job done after he secured the WBA Regular World Championship. A unification between himself and the other champions never came to pass, and Frank Martin's chance came around. As covered on the DQ w/ Damani Podcast, Martin declined the fight, ducking Shakur to create the situation that allowed Edwin de Los Santos to step forward. de Los Santos' opportunity was wasted, but that doesn't mean his world title aspirations are gone. Lomachenko, Isaac "Pitbull" Cruz, and George Kambosos, the IBO Lightweight World Champion, are all still at 135. de Los Santos can chase world championship gold in Kambosos, or keep things in-house with a clash against "Pitbull" Cruz. For Shakur, a title defense would make the most sense. Devin Haney is occupied at super lightweight with Regis Prograis, and no one is sure if he will cut weight to make it back to lightweight. Jose Nunez, a Panamanian fighter who last fought in Florida, would be a solid pick. He looks to be a free agent with Sampson Lewkowicz as his promoter. Nunez is also ranked at #23 in the lightweight division. He defeated rising Mexican prospect Omar Salcido Gamez in a brutal 10-round slugfest, boosting him just below the top 20 in the lightweight division while Gamez dropped to #50. If Shakur were to allow Jose Nunez a shot at his title, it would be a great stay-busy fight for himself, as well as a major opportunity for Nunez. The combat sports public would have no reason to complain either, seeing as how Nunez is currently undefeated, sitting comfortably with a 16-0 record, 7 of those victories coming by way of knockout. Another option for Shakur would be to unify his title with Kambosos’, which is also an option for de Los Santos to challenge for. Shakur and Kambosos already had a run-in after Kambosos defeated Maxi Hughes back in Summer 2023. Kambosos went after Shakur for declining to fight Devin Haney for a 25% cut, which Shakur responded to by calling out Kambosos' lack of initiative to fight him instead. This fight would also be ideal for both men. Kambosos carries a world championship around his waist but sits in a purgatory-like state because of his questionable victory over Maxi Hughes. Many people believe it was a robbery, which means major opportunities may be eluding him. A fight with Shakur will get Kambosos back in the good graces of the public, as well as bring the IBO Lightweight belt back into the fold like it has in the heavyweight division.