Shakur Stevenson wants IBF lightweight champion Vasily Lomachenko to retire if he won’t fight him or Gervonta Davis. Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) says he is “lost respect” for the former three-division world champion of 36 Lomachenko (18-3, 12 KOs) because he talked “waste” outside the ring, but then he did not want to fight.
Stevenson has been after Lomachenko to fight him for ages, but has shown no interest. Shakur’s unwillingness to engage, his focus on the hit-and-not-get-hit style, and not being a commercial shooter could be factors in why Lomachenko has shown no desire to fight .
Lomachenko fought fighters similar to Shakur during his amateur days in Ukraine, but he may not be willing to chase him around the ring in a fight that is drowned out by the fans.
Shakur wants Lomachenko to retire
WBC lightweight champion Shakur feels he and Tank Davis are the two best fighters at 135, and says if Loma doesn’t want to fight either, he needs to hang up his gloves. Interestingly, Shakur does not tell Tank Davis to retire because he is not interested in fighting. Why is this?
Could it be that Shakur wants to make sure he gets that big payday against Tank because he would have to say retire as well? The money that Shakur would get fighting Tank would be much more than he made during his professional career.
So it makes sense that Shakur isn’t getting back on his feet because he needs that money. Given his physical issues, lack of power, and safety-first fighting style in this weight class, he’s not likely to last as a championship-level fighter.
Many fans believe that Shakur does not belong to 135, since he is a fish out of the water and cannot thrive on dry land against light-weight power punchers. We saw it clearly in Shakur’s fight against Edwin De Los Santos last November, when ran around the ring for 12 rounds, trying not to get hit.
Stevenson label Loma “Soft”
“Nah, I’m a little over it. I think it’s sweet. When I saw him in the last fight when he forgot and talked to me a little without noise, but he doesn’t want to put in a boxing ring and put it in place. I think that’s sweet,” said Shakur Stevenson to Boxing newstrashing Vasily Lomachenko for not agreeing to fight.
Shakur cannot be “outdone” if he demands that Lomachenko retire. Shakur is bitter about not being given a fight against him and wants him out of the sport because he didn’t get his way.
It will be interesting to see how Shakur reacts when he is 36 years old, like Loma, and there is a young fighter demanding that he fight. Will he be willing to accommodate that fighter or turn his nose up and ignore the guy? It’s easy for Shakur to speak boldly now at 27, but when he’s 36, will he be willing to take on young killers?
Given Shakur’s fragile hands, lack of power, and his reflex-dependent defensive fighting style, it is unlikely that he will still be in the sport at Lomachenko’s age. There isn’t enough balance in Shakur’s game to have a long career. It’s all defense and no offense. It’s like a 90-10 defensive imbalances over the offense with Shakur. These guys don’t last.
No disrespect to Lomachenko
“I have respect for him for what he has done in the sport of boxing, but lately, I have lost a lot of respect for him just because our altercation was more like he was turbulent outside the ring. He does not want to enter in the ring and solve it,” Shakur said.
“I don’t even see the point of boxing if he’s not going to fight me or he’s not going to fight Tank. What’s the point of boxing? Who are you doing? You can go get some money quick. Go to do so if that’s your case. Other than that, don’t mention yourself in discussions with us because we don’t even want to fight,” Shakur said.
If Shakur loses to William Zepeda on February 22, his career will be in bad shape, and it doesn’t matter anymore that Lomachenko isn’t fighting. Shakur will need to have his promoter, Eddie Hearn, come to his rescue to save his career with his special matchmaking skills.
Hearn will do this for struggling fighters for a while, but he won’t do it indefinitely for guys who can’t swim with sharks. Shakur is a classic example of a guy who won’t stay afloat for long at lightweight. Hearn will try to do a rebuilding job on Shakur if he loses to Zepeda, but he’s not going to protect him for the rest of his career if he can’t beat top fighters.
Retire is not trying to be in no big fights so why be in the sport
— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) November 11, 2024
