TWO things we know. We know, one, that Shakur Stevenson is an acquired taste, as brilliant as he is frustrating, and we know, two, that his days with Top Rank, his current promoter, are numbered because he is, well, an acquired taste.
In boxing, as we see, winning—and winning all the time—is often not enough. For promoters, at least, the most critical thing is how a boxer wins, not the fact that he wins. Moreover, for the fans, those whose tastes ultimately dictate the promoter’s, it is imperative that a boxer be more than just adept at winning, regardless of the entertainment costs.
In the case of Stevenson, a 27-year-old from Newark, Up-to-date Jersey, there has long been a desire on the part of both promoter and fans for him to provide entertainment along with excellence. That those two things, entertainment and excellence, rarely coexist in a sport like boxing has no bearing on the demands of his audience and his paymasters, it seems.
That’s why this Saturday (July 6) he will once again be expected to not only win over Artem Harutyunyan, but win in a way that will satisfy anyone who has criticized the way he’s won fights before. That is, with ease, dominance, and very little effort (at first glance).
Shakur Stevenson shows off his way to defeating Edwin De Los Santos in Las Vegas (Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)
Of course, Stevenson has the right to decide how to win his fights. If he wins, he will retain his WBC lightweight title, and he will also earn money and be able to fight names that, who knows, could elevate him in terms of status and marketability. That was the case with Floyd Mayweather, another controversial fighter who wasn’t winning his fights “properly,” long before Stevenson came along. In Mayweather’s case, what really got things moving, taking him from “Pretty Boy” to “Money,” was the influence of opponents like Arturo Gatti and Oscar De La Hoya, both of whom were the perfect complements to a boxer whose goal was always to win, not to entertain the crowd.
For Stevenson, 21-0 (10), something similar could happen in the future. After all, he’s surrounded by big-name fighters, including Gervonta Davis, Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia. Any one of that trio could work as Stevenson’s dance partner, and there’s a good chance the threat they pose would be enough to bring out the best in Stevenson and prove to people that he’s a champion worth investing in.
There seems to be some hesitation on that front at the moment. Even his own promoter, Top Rank, seems to be hesitant and unsure about the prospect of retaining Stevenson’s services beyond his next fight (the last under his current contract with them). If they don’t, Stevenson will naturally become a free agent, at which point a number of suitors will emerge and he will have the opportunity to find a home elsewhere.
That seems like the most likely scenario at this point. In fact, Stevenson has already claimed that Top Rank have essentially told him to “go see the market” before coming back to them, suggesting that potential suitors will have the same reservations about Stevenson’s box office appeal as Top Rank.
That may be true, but it’s clear that whether it’s true or not, the relationship between Stevenson and Top Rank is fractured, broken. Ever since they gave George Kambosos the title fight with Vasiliy Lomachenko (which Stevenson had once so desperately wanted), Stevenson has clearly felt disrespected, overlooked, and undervalued by them. He’s accepted that there was nothing he could do about the situation, but he’ll know that he’s fully responsible and in control of his reputation and appeal to his fans. That’s why a fight like this, another one with Artem Harutyunyan, is so critical, both for the present (keeping his title) and the future (earning lucrative opportunities). Beating Harutyunyan on Saturday night is critical, yes, but it’s not enough. But that won’t be enough because of the nature of the fight — no one asked for it — and it won’t be enough because Shakur Stevenson, now more than ever, is in a store window, begging passersby to stop long enough to appreciate what he’s selling.
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