Shakur Stevenson says he won’t fight undefeated light welterweight contender Richardson Hitchins because “He’ll have to take his name.” WBC lightweight champion Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) says a fight between him and Hitchins (19-0, 7 KOs) makes no sense.”in terms of business.”
Hitchins needs to build his name
Shakur says he’s fighting in arenas and doing “big shit” with his career right now. Hitchins #1 IBF and #3 WBO, promoted by Matchroom Boxing, is coming off a controversial 12 round unanimous decision win over Gustavo Lemos on April 6th.
Hitchins challenges IBF welterweight champion Liam Paro for his belt on December 7 at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The fight will be shown live on DAZN. If Hitchins wins that fight, Shakur could show interest, especially if he loses his WBC lightweight title in February.
Stevenson feels that his popularity is above Hitchins, which is interesting because hardcore boxing fans do not like the Newark, New Jersey native. He had been well maneuvered by his former promoters at Top Rank after signing with them in 2017.
Stevenson recently left Top Rank and signed with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom. He was supposed to debut with them against Joe Cordina on October 12, but suffered a hand injury while training for the fight and had to cancel. Stevenson’s first fight for Matchroom will be in February against #1 William Zepeda.
Greg Hackett: “What about you and Richardson Hitchins? Do you think that fight will ever happen?” Coach Hackett said GHBTV.
Shakur Stevenson: “I probably wouldn’t even fight ‘Africa’. He’s someone else. He’s been my brother for years and years. I’m not right with (him) now. The truth, I don’t f*** with him. You have to understand that a lot of these fights don’t make sense. This is no disrespect to him. I would do his shit name, and it’s personal. This shit is personal.”
Things could change for Shakur and Hitchins, depending on the results of their upcoming fights. If Shakur loses to Zepeda and Hitchins defeats Paro, it will be interesting to see how things work out with their careers.
Shakur would need to rebuild, and he might want to move up to 140. It wouldn’t make sense for Shakur to stay at 135 if he gets knocked out badly by William Zepeda, as many fans predict will happen.
