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Eddie Hearn Is Going to Make Shakur Stevenson a ‘Star’

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Image: Eddie Hearn Aims to Turn Shakur Stevenson into a "Star"

Promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed he plans to try and sign Shakur Stevenson to his Matchroom club and believes he can easily “make him a star” with lend a hand from promoters.

Hearn’s Confidence in Making Shakur a ‘Star’

Hearn states that Shakur will be taking part in Saturday’s fight between recent Matchroom signing Jaron “Boots” Ennis and David Avanesyan at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The idea is to get WBC lightweight champion Shakur noticed by the public and Hearn to lure him to Matchroom.

“Shakur Stevenson is one of the most popular fighters in the world. I know I can make him a star; it’s that plain for me. I’ve got the dates, I’ve got the platform, I’ve got the megaphone. Let’s do it,” Eddie Hearn told Seconds out.

There are doubts Hearn will be able to make Shakur a PPV star, and he would have to be original and not someone who is popular because the public dislikes him.

No matter how much Hearn promotes Shakur, he will never become the crossover star in the U.S. that fans want to see because it is not must-see television. American fans want to see fighters who entertain, such as Gervonta Davis, Isaac Cruz, David Benavidez, Canelo Alvarez and Ryan Garcia.

He’s the gold standard of what US fans want to watch for entertainment. Shakur fits into a different category, where fans want to watch him more for his gruff personality and social media work. He puts in almost as much work on Twitter as Ryan Garcia, which is saying a lot.

Hearn rightly notes that Shakur (22-0, 14 KOs) is one of the most talked about fighters in the boxing ring. None of Shakur’s critics can deny that he’s been talked about more than anyone else after his lackluster 12-round unanimous decision win over Artem Harutyunyan last weekend.

Shakur’s “Mayweather Effect”

Stevenson has a similar effect on people to Mayweather. They hate his arrogant attitude and the way he brags endlessly, then fails to back it up in the ring, giving one uninteresting performance after another.

If Hearn signs Shakur, he needs to try and get a fight with Gervonta Davis or Vasiliy Lomachenko soon because he won’t last long before he gets knocked out. Stevenson almost lost to Edwin De Los Santos last November, and the guy isn’t considered one of the top fighters.

“The deal has to be good and there has to be an acceptance from him that we still have a job to do, but it won’t last long. You see, with Boots. If Boots shines this weekend, we’re there,” Hearn said of his recent signing, IBF welterweight champion Jaron “Boots” Ennis, who defends his title this Saturday night against replacement opponent David Avanesyan.

Hearn will never turn Shakur into another Boots Ennis-type fighter whose fans want to see fight because he’s entertaining. But Shakur is a lot more captivating to listen to than Boots, who has little to say and doesn’t have the same charismatic personality.

“You’re already talking about one of the biggest stars in the sport, and I can do that with Shakur, no problem,” Hearn said of the need to build Shakur into a star because he’s not one now. “I consider Boots the fifth best pound-for-pound fighter, and the same goes for Shakur.”

Need for high-level fights

Without Shakur beating Tank Davis, Vasiliy Lomachenko and William Zepeda, he won’t become a large star in the U.S. Shakur will be an Adrien Broner type of fighter who talks well in interviews and press conferences but is uninteresting and does poorly in fights. Broner did much better when he was younger than Shakur.

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Boxing

The Kinsley Ibeh vs Jack May fight will take place on October 19 at the EQC Fight Night gala

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EQC Fight Night Oct 19

A classic clash reminiscent of Clash of Titans will headline “EQC Fight Night” presented by Toro Promotions, Inc. and Whitfield Haydon Boxing on Saturday evening, October 19, at the EQC Event Center at Tacoma’s famed Emerald Queen Casino. Washington.

6′ 4″, 290-pound Kinsley “The Black Lion” Ibeh (12-2-1, 10 KO) will face 6′ 8″, 260-pound Jack “The Outlaw” May (10-0, 9 KO) in the main event, a 10-round main event for the vacant Latino World Boxing Council (WBC) Silver Championship.

Ibeh, a Nigerian native who fights out of Phoenix (AZ), is a former college and Canadian Football League player, as well as the cousin of notorious retired boxer Ike Ibeabuchi (20-0, 15 KO). Ibeh is on an eight-game winning streak since losing to then-rising star Jared Anderson 7-0 in 2021. Ibeh’s last action took place on June 15, when he stopped Juan Torres in the second round, also at the Emerald Queen Casino gala.

May, fighting in Chino Hills, California, won ten in a row, nine of which were decided by knockouts. May is a combat sports athlete who also boxed and fought bare-knuckled. May’s last fight was a first-round technical knockout of John Shipman on August 29 in Costa Mesa, California.

“They are both real fighters,” said matchmaker Whit Haydon. “When the fight was proposed, all they asked was when and where and that they would arrive with bells on. The place is almost sold out, so gigantic Northwest fans, and believe me when I say they are the best, will be able to enjoy the sights and sounds.”

Ibeh and May are part of Toro’s growing stable of solid heavyweights, along with Ukrainian Olympian Tsotne “Mr. T” Tsotne (10-0, 7 KO), Alexander “The Great” Flores (19-5-1, 17 KO) and Dante Stone (17-1, 11 KO). But unlike other promoters, Toro doesn’t bother matching his fighters like Ibeh and May, and Tsotne recently defeated Flores by a 10-round unanimous decision.

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Ryan Garcia: ‘Case dismissed’ due to vandalism

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Image: Ryan Garcia's Dad Reacts to his Son's Positive PED Tests

Ryan Garcia posted the following on social media today: “Case dismissed” thanking his lawyer, Michael Goldstein. This is related to Garcia’s accusations of vandalism last June in connection with events at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Beverly Hills.

This isn’t the case fans were hoping he would get fired. They are more interested in Devin Haney’s lawsuit against Ryan Garcia for battery and fraud in connection with their April fight in which Kingry tested positive for PEDs.

It’s still unclear whether Haney and his dad, Bill Haney, will pursue the case to the end, hoping the verdict will net them a windfall. This could make staging a rematch problematic if Ryan loses or wins. Would Haney be content to fight Ryan again if the lawsuit was unsuccessful?

Given Bill Haney’s upbeat attitude and Garcia’s request to submit to a doping test within 48 hours for his rematch with Devin (31-0, 15 KO) next, this could be seen as a softening on his part regarding steep court proceedings.

This would be costly and could jeopardize Haney’s chances for a lucrative rematch with Ryan in 2025. A rematch is the best way for Haney to make millions and get back to where he was before his loss to Ryan earlier this year.

If Haney wins the competition, we could see a trilogy if it brings in a lot of PPV buys. Considering how much attention their fight later received, it’s safe and sound to predict that their rematch will generate massive PPV buys, perhaps even bigger than Ryan’s 2023 fight with Gervonta Davis.

Bill Haney would need to up his game to generate interest, as Ryan can’t single-handedly advance the rematch, and Devin obviously won’t be much assist. He’s better off when he doesn’t talk.

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Boxing

WBO orders Alimkhanuly vs. middleweight title fight Sheeraz

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ZHANIBEK Alimkhanuly has been ordered to defend his WBO 160-pound title against Britain’s Hamzah Sheeraz. The official letter sent by the organization explained that both parties – representatives of Alimkhanuly Top Rank and Queensberry for Sheeraz – are now committed to reaching an agreement within the next 15 days. If no agreement can be reached, an auction will take place.

“The minimum acceptable offer for the WBO middleweight division is $200,000,” reads a message sent by WBO president Luis Batista Salas. Champion Alimkhanuly, who also holds the IBF belt, was last seen beating Andrei Mikhailovich in Australia after a ninth-round stoppage.

Sheeraz after his latest victory over Austin Williams (Photo: Richard Pelham/Getty Images)

Sheeraz has also been lively recently, defeating Tyler Denny in two rounds on the Anthony Joshua-Daniel Dubois undercard, earning Denny the European crown in the process. Interestingly, the EBU recently ordered Sheeraz to defend his modern belt against Denzel Bentley, who previously lost a 12-round world title fight to Alimkhanuly.

Alimkhanuly declared his willingness to continue unification after being dismissed from the game, but restricted the Recent Zealander Mikhailovich. In the post-fight interview, the names of fellow champions Lara and Adames were mentioned. Sheeraz presents a completely different threat. Newborn, fresh and a powerful puncher with dimensions to match the Kazakh, Zhanibek will raise his game according to the threat.

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