Boxing analyst Tim Bradley believes Shakur Stevenson made a mistake by not accepting a contract extension offer from Top Rank worth $15 million for five fights with a guaranteed $3 million per fight instead of taking advantage of the free agent market.
Hope for a lucrative deal with Turki Alalshikh
Shakur may have turned down the $15 million offer because he hoped Turki Alalshikh would give him a fortune for the fight and wouldn’t mind if he fought in a lifeless way.
If that were to happen, it would be the perfect solution for Shakur, as he wouldn’t have to worry about entertaining fans and would be able to fight the only way he knows how, using an amateur points-scoring style that he hasn’t changed since turning pro in 2017.
This style is incompatible with the professional world, where fighters are expected to throw punches and provide entertainment to sell tickets and PPVs.
Bradley believes it was a good deal and adds that WBC lightweight world champion Shakur would have made more than $3 million for fights with Gervonta “Tank” Davis and Vasiliy Lomachenko.
Shakur may be confident that if he signs with PBC, they will secure him a fight with Tank Davis, a gold mine with a huge payday, likely significantly more than the $15 million Top Rank was offering.
Unrealistic expectations from PBC and Matchroom
Stevenson may not get the same offer from PBC or Matchroom Boxing, as those companies surely know he will likely never be a PPV star or ticket seller.
If Shakur gets the fight he wants with Tank Davis, or gets knocked out, he’ll run around the ring for 12 rounds like he did with Edwin De Los Santos, and lose by decision. There will be no gift decision for Shakur with Tank if he fights like he did with De Los Santos.
If Shakur believes PBC can deliver Tank to him, it would make sense for him to sign with them. Of course, PBC can’t force Tank Davis to fight Shakur if they feel he doesn’t want to fight him and has to endure him running away for twelve rounds.
Shakur will fight Tank more defensively than he did last Saturday night against weaker boxer Artem Harutyunyan in Newark, Novel Jersey.
Generous Top Rank offer
“Should he have taken the $15 million?” [offer from Top Rank] deal? Definitely. He should have taken that $15 million deal. There’s no question about it,” Tim Bradley said Probox TV approximately $15 million Top Rank offered Shakur Stevenson to re-sign to a five-fight contract worth $3 million per fight, but he turned it down.
Shakur could crawl back to Top Rank if they don’t offer him a better or equal deal from other promoters or Turka. That would be bad for Shakur, but it’s a real possibility. If you’re PBC or Matchroom, do you really want to sign Shakur after the way he’s looked lately? I wouldn’t. A lot of electrifying fighters might not be as good defensively, but they entertain the fans.
“You have to think about it. It’s a minimum of $3 million. It doesn’t matter who he fights. If he fights Tank Davis, of course he’ll make more money,” Bradley said. “If he fights Lomachenko, of course he’ll make more money. That’s the base price.”
Shakur can forget about Lomachenko because he will probably never agree to fight him unless he is paid a huge amount of money. If he loses to Gervonta Davis in November, he will be useless to Shakur.
“People were leaving that arena. If he was going to get the knockout, people would have been there to see how it would unfold. He missed that opportunity, and the reason he missed it is because he was arguing with his grandfather in the corner,” Bradley said of Shakur not listening to his grandfather, who wanted him to fight aggressively in the final moments.
Stevenson didn’t knock out Artem Harutyunyan last weekend, and it wouldn’t have mattered if he had fought with more aggression. That wasn’t going to happen.
“His grandfather was telling him, ‘You have to hit the gas, and I have to do it now.’ He didn’t listen. The window was there, and he didn’t stop,” Bradley said.
The importance of marketability
“As far as his marketability, it’s going to be tough for him,” Bradley said of Shakur. “I don’t know where he goes from here. I don’t know if he goes with Terence Crawford. Turki Alalshikh, or does he invest in Shakur Stevenson?”
If Turki signs Shakur, who will he match him up with? Will he fight regularly, or will he do crossover fights where he finds a popular MMA fighter and has him fight Shakur in a circus-level fight?
“He wants more money. I understand. I’m talking about marketability. If you don’t get people into the seats, you’re going to have a difficult time asking for as much money as this newborn man is asking for. $3 million is a lot of money,” Bradley said.
Based on Shakur’s performance, he is not worth a $15 million contract and is not worth more than more spectacular, younger fighters like Abdullah Mason.
“You don’t see many guys making $3 million,” Bradley said.
