Shakur Stevenson showed that his surgically repaired right hand was working at full strength today in bag training. He recently suffered an injury to his right hand during his fight with Joe Cordina, and had to cancel the match for surgery.
Shakur’s Hand Problems
It will be interesting to see how long Shakur can go before he limps off with another hand injury and needs another round of surgery. He is quick to be a sickbay commando with all his ailments, and he is only 27 years old.
He cannot overcome the physical distance, and he will not be able to do his job using the amateur fencing style against the top 135 fighters. To be a lightweight, you have to fight and not run the ring. mark. Maybe that’s why Shakur is finding it hard to get top names to fight him.
The judges won’t give Shakur a chance like they did in his fight with Edwin De Los Santos, which he should have lost. If the crowd boos nonstop from the third round, the judges won’t go ahead with Shakur’s win.
Top Rank may be thanking their lucky stars that Shakur chose not to rejoin their company and has become Eddie Hearn’s problem in the Matchroom.
Strength Required to Fight at 135
Stevenson’s strong hands have been failing him since moving up to lightweight, and his body may not be able to handle fighting at this weight class.
Fighters are expected to be strong at 135, and if they weren’t blessed in that department by the way Gervonta Davis, Abdullah Mason, again William Zepedathey must charge with all the power they have. That’s what Shakur was doing; his hands cannot take it. They are not designed to be lightweight.
Assuming Shakur isn’t plagued by his weak hands, he’ll have to find an opponent on the February 22 card in Riyadh.
William Zepeda does not seem interested in fighting Shakur, and is believed to be eyeing a fight against WBA lightweight champion Tank Davis. That’s a money fight for Zepeda, so why he wants to go that way instead of fighting Shakur is understandable.
Options for Shakur’s Next Fight
– Edwin De Los Santos
– Andy Cruz
– Raymond Muratalla
– Keyshawn Davis
– Floyd Schofield
Eddie Hearn wants to turn Shakur into a world star or at least that’s what he says, but if he matches him with any of those fighters, it’s going to end badly.
Even the judges who gave Shakur a victory over De Los Santos last year in November, can’t control the roar of the fans. They gave Shakur another controversial win, but the boos will be bigger than ever if he faces one of those guys.
What’s interesting is how good Shakur looks. He has put on weight since his last fight on July 6 against Artem Harutyunyan and appears to be a full-fledged welterweight. He will have to drop a whole lot of weight if he wants to get back to 135.
I don’t know what Shakur has been eating for the past five months to gain so much weight, but he needs to stay away from that food.
Shakur has been dominant in every weight class he has fought in since becoming champion, but he is dominant in the 135-lb division. As big as he is, he should be competing at 147 against fighters like Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis.
Obviously, Shakur, 27, will be at a disadvantage against Boots Ennis, but if he’s as good as he and his fans believe, he should be able to hold his own against the guys at welterweight.
Shakur has not pitched well in two of his three starts since moving up to 135 in 2023. He fought against these two fighters: Edwin De Los Santos and Artem Harutyunyan.
2025 🔜…. 💨 pic.twitter.com/A8jxVEr2yX
— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) November 23, 2024
