“With this new deal, I can make any fight that I want in the sport of boxing,” Shakur told Ring Magazine. “There’s not no restrictions. It’s not no, ‘I can’t fight this guy.’ Boxing is not the same no more.”

The undefeated WBO light welterweight champion said critics are still viewing the sport through an outdated lens and believes Zuffa’s model will change that.

“The critics got to get past thinking in the old mindset. The new mindset is the best fighting the best, and I’m all for it. I think Zuffa is all for it too. So let’s do it,” said Shakur.

Stevenson expanded on that point later in the interview, saying recent changes in boxing have already made major fights easier to put together.

“The business of boxing is not in the way no more,” he said. “I think with Zuffa, with Turki backing Zuffa, it’s just so much in the sport of boxing that can get done. Any of these guys want to say they want to fight Shakur? Then sign it up. I’m ready.”

While Shakur declined to call out a specific opponent, he reiterated that he is willing to face whoever emerges as the best available option. He also described the proposed fight with Gervonta “Tank” Davis as “the biggest fight in the sport” before adding that he is prepared to fight any elite opponent if the opportunity reaches his table.

Shakur signed with Zuffa Boxing today as the promotion continues building its roster around a UFC-style model backed by Dana White and Turki Alalshikh. His signing immediately led to speculation over future fights against Gervonta, Devin Haney and other top names as the new promotion looks to establish itself in boxing.

“Ink = Dry ✍️

Let’s get it, @ShakurStevenson.”

The announcement ends speculation about Stevenson’s future after months of discussion over whether he would become one of the centerpiece fighters in Dana White’s new boxing venture.

Shakur (25-0, 11 KOs), an Olympic silver medalist and current world champion at super lightweight, is regarded as one of the sport’s most technically gifted fighters. His addition gives Zuffa another established titleholder as the company prepares to launch its first major events.

The signing comes less than three weeks before Zuffa Boxing 09, scheduled for July 26 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The card is headlined by Richardson Hitchins defending his IBF junior welterweight title against Eduardo Salas, while Edgar Berlanga faces Butler in the co-feature. The event will stream live on Paramount+.

Financial terms of Shakur’s agreement were not disclosed. Fans responding to the announcement immediately speculated about the size of the deal and which opponents could eventually be matched against him under the Zuffa banner.

Shakur’s signing is another significant step in Zuffa Boxing’s effort to assemble a roster capable of competing with boxing’s established promoters. While his first fight under the new promotional banner has not yet been announced, his arrival immediately strengthens the company’s stable ahead of its July 26 showcase in New York.

Jaron Ennis threw down the gauntlet to the other super-welterweight world champions when he captured the unified 154lb crown with a knockout win over Xander Zayas last month, and now female boxing icon Claressa Shields has predicted how a unification clash between Ennis and Sebastian Fundora would play out.

Ennis became a two-division unified world champion when he halted Zayas after six rounds on June 27opening the door to potential showdowns with Fundora, Josh Kelly and a long-awaited scrap with Vergil Ortiz Jr, despite the Texan not holding a title.

It is expected that Kelly will defend his IBF super-welterweight crown against Caiomhin Agyarko on Anthony Joshua’s undercard later this month, whilst recent rumours suggest that talks for a fight between Ennis and WBC ruler, Fundora, are ongoing.

Speaking to Fight Hub TV, Shields praised Ennis for his performance against Zayas, but warned that there were a couple of mistakes made that could be punished in a unification affair against ‘The Towering Inferno’.

“Had Boots quit against Xander, they would be calling Boots a quitter, but because Xander got stopped or quit against Boots they all like ‘oh, he got so much heart’. Be fair. Give Boots his dues. Right now, at 154lbs, he is the man.

“A big challenge for him will be Fundora. Fundora is a big challenge for anybody because of how long he is and his height, but Boots has enough in his arsenal, I feel, to beat Fundora, but he has got to be very, very smart.

“He can’t make the same mistakes that he made, getting hit with that straight jab and that right against Zayas, he can’t do that with Fundora. Cannot. Will not. He cannot do that. Also, he cannot do that fighting on wobbly legs either.

“The only thing that he did wrong, for me, was fighting after that. Him fighting on wobbly legs, he should have moved around, jabbed, whatever. Be smart.”

Ennis-Fundora is being mooted for either November or December, and boxing great Terence Crawford has revealed how he thinks that could play out.