Shakur Stevenson spent some time in-depth chatting with his mentor Andre Ward to discuss a number of topics including being a free agent, his latest fight and fan criticism, Gervonta Davis and more. Watch the full video interview in the link at the top, plus some excerpts from what Stevenson had to say below.

Stevenson on what he looks for when signing his next endorsement deal

“I just want to be in the biggest and best fights… the same fight I just had, with Artem. If it was a name that people knew and it was like a gigantic name and I had the exact same fight, they would do it. say it’s a masterpiece. They’d say it’s the greatest thing they’ve ever seen defensively and in the pocket.

“I just want to perform in front of the names, I want to be in front of the guys that they think are so good so that I can show what level I am at. So whatever situation puts me in front of my biggest and best fights, I’m OK with that.”

On whether his beef with Gervonta Davis is real or just “boxing beef”

“It’s bigger than boxing, I guess you could say, because I like the story and everything that happened… I know [that fight] will happen. I mean, I’m the best, he’s the best. You have two best players, how can you not fight? The only way you couldn’t fight is if one of them isn’t like that and someone leaves to lose, or someone takes the L. But I think for both of us, we’re fighters who are really good fighters and that’s it level.”

About what he expects from his boxing legacy

“I think I’ll go down in history as probably the best defensive player to ever do it. I want to be one of the best, I want to be on that GOAT mountain you’re sitting on, Pernell Whitaker, Floyd Mayweather, Sugar Ray Leonard, Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali… I’m just trying to climb it and get there.

“When all is said and done, they will respect me.”

In this video interview, Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn talks about his position between Saudi Arabia’s Turki Alalshikh, who is basically financing the biggest fights in boxing lately, and Mexican star Canelo Alvarez, who is not interested in continuing negotiations with Alalshikh at the moment.

While there is clearly some tension between the parties, Hearn doesn’t think it’s something that can’t be overcome in the end, and tries to explain the difference in the two people’s thinking.

About the beef between Canelo and Turki Alashikh

“It’s hard because obviously I really like both. I think, first of all, His Excellency has one thing in mind: to fight the biggest fights that can be fought in boxing. I think he probably shares the frustration of boxing fans over the last few years and I think what he brings to the sport is incredibly refreshing in that he’s not interested in delicate fights.

“He just wants to fight the biggest fights that can be fought. So, according to His Excellency, the fights he wants to see are Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez vs. David Benavidez.

“He contacted me, His Excellency, on the evening of the first press conference in Novel York and said, ‘I want to do the Canelo vs. Crawford fight, go and talk to Saul, let’s do the fight.’ I said, “Okay,” and I contacted Saul and said, “His Excellency wants to fight this fight. I think you should go see him in Los Angeles, he’s there,” and Saul just said, “Listen, I’m focused on this fight, I’m not talking about another fight until this fight is over.

“And I think His Excellency probably can’t understand… I think it’s a frustration of, ‘no, let’s have a fight, come on.’ You have to understand the way it works, and the way they do business is amazing. It’s “this is what we want to do, this is huge, let’s do it.” And for one reason or another, Canelo didn’t want to have those conversations, and then there was the frustration of “why not, we’re here, we can make a deal right now”… you come to the hotel now and we’ll make a deal tonight.

“It’s an amazing way to operate and extremely refreshing for boxing, but Canelo didn’t want to do the deal this way. He wanted to wait until the Berlanga fight, which, frustratingly for His Excellency, wipes out the February fight with Crawford because he wants to end the fight now.”

Eddie Hearn sat down this morning to talk softball with his crew at Matchroom headquartersand although he contributed very little substance, he did give us one piece of intriguing information. While it’s not finalized yet, Hearn says he’s “working strenuous” to finalize the Bright Edwards vs. Galal Yafai fight and hopes to announce the decision “soon.”

Edwards (21-1, 4 KO) bounced back from last year’s loss to Jesse Rodriguez by technical decision over Adrian Curiel in June, putting him in prime position to return to title contention and establish a up-to-date reign over the… Bama Era. He will be the top-rated challenger to Angel Ayala Lardizabala when the IBF updates its rankings, and will also be near the top for the winner of Kenshiro Teraji vs. Cristofer Rosales.

That said, it is very understandable that he will face Yafai (7-0, 5 KO) first. The gold medalist from Tokyo is already 31 years venerable and has over ten years of professional and amateur experience; there’s no reason to let this continue to marinate, especially since (as Hearn notes) they have some bad blood in them. It’s an effortless sell, with Britain’s most skillful professional taking on one of its most accomplished amateurs.

Whether it will be good to watch is a completely different question. This is intriguing, at least on a conceptual level.