Shakur Stevenson has been quiet on social media since news broke that he will defend his WBC lightweight title against former IBF super featherweight champion Joe Cordina on October 12 in Riyadh.
Given all the talk Shakur has made about wanting to fight Gervonta 'Tank' Davis and Vasily Lomachenko, it looks bad for him to fight Cordina. Shakur calls himself the best fighter in the lightweight division, but no one takes him seriously, and even less now.
Cordina: Controversial Title Shot
Stevenson is very boastful, referring to himself and Tank as the “Two Kings” of the light class, but his performance and low resistance prove him to be a liar.
If the fight with Shakur happens, Cordina (17-1, 9 KOs) will get what many consider an undeserved title in his first 135 fight since being knocked out by Anthony Cacace on May 18.
Eddie Hearn is promoting Cordina, so he's giving him what could be one last big payday because he's not expected to win or compete against 2016 Olympian Shakur. After Cordina loses this fight, her career will probably sink.
This is reportedly Shakur's only fight. He wants to be a free agent next year, and signing with Hearn's Matchroom will help him get a fight with Tank Davis.
Hearn is likely to sign Shakur to a long-term deal through 2025 after his fight with Tank, but he won't do it if the Baltimore native destroys him.
Stevenson has not looked good in his last two fights at 135, which may indicate that he is unable to handle the power of fighters in the lightweight division. He began his career at 126, where he had a huge size advantage over his opposition.
It was the same when Shakur moved to super featherweight [130]. However, since Shakur moved up to lightweight in 2023, he has had issues with the strength and aggressiveness of fighters. Stevenson looks like Adrien Broner when he moved up from super featherweight many years ago.
Broner was a star at 130, but when he moved up in weight, his strength didn't keep up, and he became a mediocre fighter, looking for paydays and getting beat up over and over again. Shakur is a complete carbon copy of Broner, but he hasn't matched up with anyone good at 135.
Last November, Stevenson's fight Edwin De Los Santos told fans everything they needed to know about his performance at lightweight. He can't handle the power of the fighters in the 135-lb division and has become a rabbit. You can see the fear in Shakur in his three fights at lightweight, and he is not physically designed for this weight class.
Unable to deal with heavy shots, Shakur looks tough in his fights, showing that he is not comfortable with the power of his position. Plus, Shakur doesn't have the pop in his swing to keep these fighters off him.
In other words, Stevenson is a fish out of water and cannot exist on dry land in a lightweight environment. So, he's pushing hard for a big money fight with Tank Davis. You want that big payday before it's revealed.
Is Stevenson Avoiding Killers at 135?
Shakur doesn't seem to be able to handle the power of fighters at 135, which is probably why his promoters have kept him away from Raymond Muratalla, Abdullah Mason, Andy Cruz, and Floyd Schofield.
They know what they have in Shakur, and they're protecting him because he's not built to mix it with the strong guys in the lightweight division. He should be back where he came from at 130 or 126, but obviously, the purses are very small in those weight classes because the fighters are not obvious to the average fan.
Shakur's last opponent, Artem Harutyunyan, had lost his previous fight when he was selected to challenge for his WBC 135-lb title last July in Newark, New Jersey.
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