WHETHER it was a result of insecurity, a victim mentality or genuine faith, Shakur Stevenson’s response to criticism over the nature of his latest victory was to take to social media to dub himself “the most hated man in the sport.”

Of course, this is patently untrue, but it is nonetheless engaging to watch Stevenson react in this way, and to believe that what drives the reaction to his performances is hatred, not reality: complete apathy.

Indeed, for some, being hated as a boxer in 2024 is a goal; an aspirational one. After all, with that comes the attention, interest, and emotional investment from “haters” that, if used correctly, can become something physical and financially rewarding. A hated fighter is, in fact, one of the most watchable and captivating commodities you can hope for in boxing, even if their fight soundtrack is more boos than cheers. People want to watch them fight—that is, lose—and they listen to what they say, if only to give themselves ammunition to apply against them. It’s not ideal, no, but if you’re not loved, being hated is certainly better than the alternative, that’s for sure.

The alternative, by the way, is this: being ignored. That’s a death sentence for a boxer, and the concern now for someone like Shakur Stevenson is that both his style and personality give him a much better chance of being ignored than being hated and talked about. Perhaps calling himself “the most hated man in the sport,” Stevenson understands this too, and is taking proactive measures to ensure he isn’t forgotten or irrelevant, especially as he enters free agency after his Top Rank contract expires. He certainly was busy on social media following his win over Artem Harutyunyan on Saturday (July 6). Picking fights with anyone who dares to challenge or criticize him (including fellow fighter Marcus Browne), the WBC lightweight champion has adopted a me-against-the-world mentality and refuses to accept views that don’t align with his own. Moreover, he reiterated that he will not change for anyone and will not adjust his style, although he has the right to do so in order to please homegrown critics who will want him to expose himself to more risks in the ring.

“The most hated man in the sport, I appreciate you for that, thank you,” Stevenson, 25, wrote on Sunday (July 7). “Substantial respect to Artem, he came in on form and did what he could last night, I respect that.. SO to those who support me, to you, to those who drive me, we are still undefeated and let’s keep it that way! Tell your favorite fighters to get in the ring because I am not, I will be ready and waiting. Thank you all for the good times and the bad.”

Stevenson’s social media feed also featured messages aimed at Floyd Mayweather, his hero. He was captured watching Stevenson’s recent victory backstage in Anaheim – where Mayweather’s protégé Curmel Moton was fighting his fourth professional fight – and the mutual appreciation is straightforward to understand. Mayweather was, after all, just another controversial fighter whose style was too much for many until he reached a level of fame and stardom where it didn’t matter how he won the fights, as long as he won them. Helped greatly by the fact that he won compelling fights against opponents who mattered and who could bring out the best in him, he transformed from “Pretty Boy,” an acquired taste with an excessive amount of skill, into “Money,” a love-it-or-hate character who eventually became the sport’s biggest attraction.

For Stevenson, 22-0 (10), a similar transition is needed, you feel. Being loved or hated must now be the goal, and achieving that goal will require, as he himself says, other fighters – large names, those with star power – to share the ring with him and thus allow Stevenson, a great technician, to make his tough style make sense to the general public; for whom boxing must always be a very basic, primal and easily understood language.

Until then, the idea that Stevenson is either loved or hated is a fantasy. At this point, a few snide tweets notwithstanding, the man from Newark hasn’t generated enough interest for fans to care about his progress, much less hate what he represents. Instead, they’re mostly indifferent, blasé. They’re not inspired, either by Stevenson as a personality or his fights as entertainment, to feel strongly one way or the other.

That’s why, generally speaking, the booing you hear on your way out is never the same as the booing you hear before the first bell. The latter suggests commitment and a certain degree of anticipation, while the former—which, unfortunately, cruelly became the soundtrack to Stevenson’s fights—suggests nothing more than boredom. The meaning of “the most hated man in the sport” is not the guy you boo on your way out, but the guy you boo on your way in. The guy you boo on your way out is the guy you never want to see again.

Shakur Stevenson has accused Top Rank of trying to paint him in a bad lightweight in his final long-term contract fight, which takes place on Saturday.

The undefeated WBC super lightweight champion fought and defeated Artem Harutyunyan to defend his belt, but failed to re-ignite the world. No matter how dominant Stevenson was, his performances were constantly met with criticism from fans.

Following his latest victory and the end of his Top Rank contract, Stevenson slammed his former employers who allegedly tried to paint him in a bad lightweight.

Referring to the attendance, officially announced as 8,412 for a 16,755-seat Prudential Center, Stevenson said, “I wonder how much they paid them to leave at exactly that time so ESPN could show it on camera.”

Asked why half the arena was confirmed, Stevenson added: “Because the higher powers [Top Rank] They sent bogus reporters to write bogus news for them to share on social media about voter turnout. They tried to get me, everything they could!

“False numbers. When the higher powers are against you, they must do everything in their power to destroy you.”

Top Rank’s goal is to push me out. The only problem is I’m still the WBC champion and none of the fighters they have in their rankings can beat me.

I wonder how much they paid those fucking niggas to come out at exactly the same time so ESPN could show it on camera 😂😂😂

— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) July 8, 2024

One fan responded to Stevenson and said that no one suggested he leave. He stated, “I’m just a regular [person] from Fresh York and nobody paid me to go. I blamed it on my mother’s life. People were booing [because] this fight was uninteresting and awful. Please stop blaming it on a conspiracy. It was a uninteresting party.”

Stevenson further replied:[It was the twelfth round!”

Another fan backed Stevenson’s statement about the final round: “It was right before the last round. Everybody knows [people] “You were trying to beat the traffic and they already knew you were going to win.”

“That makes sense too, so ESPN taped it to make me laugh. It’s a diseased world,” Stevenson thundered. “The whole gigantic organization trying to destroy me as much as possible is a savage, and I’m still going to win!”

After Stevenson recovered from his victory, he thanked everyone who came out to support him and offered some motivation.

“People tried their best to take me down yesterday. No matter how badly the fight was promoted, people still showed up for me. Shout out to Newark, even the ones who came hoping I would lose. I appreciate that.

“Now they are giving false numbers, knowing full well that we sold them” [arena] out. Focus, champ. These warriors can’t beat you. These bloggers can’t beat you, and these higher powered people can’t beat you. It’s you vs. you.”

Fernando Martinez put in an excellent performance away from home.

The undefeated Argentine used raw aggression to sway the judges in a unanimous decision victory over Kazuto Ioka. The scores were 116-112, 117-111 and a criminally delicate 120-108 (Edward Hernandez Sr.) for Martinez.

With the victory, Martinez defended his IBF 115-pound world title and won the WBA belt on Sunday at the famed Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo.

In a junior bantamweight fight between the No. 2 and No. 3, Martinez set a furious pace from the opening bell. The energy he brought in his lively, carnival-like entrance carried over into the ring, where he landed warm punches in the first round. Ioka showed off his world-class chin throughout the fight. He weathered the storm every time, almost always coming back with his signature body shots.

Ioka continued to attack Martinez’s center, which was a source of discomfort for the 32-year-old Argentine. Martinez responded with tough right hooks and uppercuts that repeatedly snapped Ioka’s head back but couldn’t break his will.

Martinez repeatedly fought back-and-forth throughout much of the first half. Ioka, 35, consistently made key adjustments midway through each round. But the four-time world titleholder continued to have trouble keeping Martinez at bay.

Ioka finished the first half with a vicious body attack, while Martinez seemed to favor his left hand.

The momentum carried over into the second half as Martinez was visibly affected by Ioka’s left hook to the body. However, he stood lofty and came back sturdy, landing two punches in round eight. The high volume of combinations offered by Martinez provoked attacks from Ioka, who could only weather the storm.

Ioki’s left hook to the body found its mark several times. (Photo: Naoki Fukuda)

Patience paid off substantial time for Ioka, as he consistently landed pristine combinations in rounds nine and ten. Martinez was a constant presence, but had trouble defending against Ioka’s left hook from the bottom.

Ioka — who hails from Osaka, lives in Tokyo but trains in Las Vegas — dictated the pace in the latter stages. Martinez wisely created separation between them as Ioka tried to take him down with combinations. The strategy had some success, as he was able to land right hooks down the middle. Ioka took the punches well and responded with left hooks down low and rights up high.

The ever-energetic Martinez greeted the crowd at the end of the eleventh round before settling into his corner stool. He then openly embraced Ioka at the start of the twelfth and final round before doing his best work of the fight.

Martinez’s aggression paid off, with all three judges giving him the win over Ioka. (Photo: Naoki Fukuda)

Martinez’s right hook snapped Ioka’s head back, and he seemed more surprised than anything else, but didn’t respond right away. Martinez found his rhythm and was able to land punches as he constantly switched between his conventional and left-handed style. Ioka responded with combinations, as he had done throughout the fight, but not with the same force as he had for most of the second half of the round.

Martinez kept throwing until the very end, although he fell to the floor just before the final bell.

It was the best win of Martinez’s (17-0, 9 knockouts) career, and he fought away from home for the fifth time in a row.

He won the IBF title in February 2022 with a victory over long-reigning Jerwin Ancajas (34-4-2, 23 KOs) in Las Vegas. Martinez repeated the feat with a more convincing victory in an October 2022 rematch in Carson, Calif. His 2023 campaign has featured just one fight, an 11th-round knockout of unbeaten Jade Bornea on June 24 in Minneapolis.

The fight with Ioka was the culmination of a months-long title unification effort, with Martinez in talks with both Ioka and then-Ring/lineal/WBC champion Juan Francisco Estrada (44-4, 28 KOs).

Ioka (31-3-1, 16 KOs) fell tiny in his second attempt to become a unified two-division champion. He was already the first boxer in Japan to win belts in four divisions, but he fell tiny of making history in a 12-round draw with Joshua Franco in December 2022. A win would see Ioka unify the WBA and WBO belts, a decade after his unified reign as WBA/WBC strawweight champion.

The stalemate had additional repercussions. Ioka was forced to fight fellow countryman Junto Nakatani, but he decided to vacate the WBO belt to rematch Franco. Last June, he defeated the San Antonio native in Tokyo to win the WBA belt.

Franco is the older brother of Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez (20-0, 13 KOs), the No. 5 pound-for-pound contender in The Ring. He recently dethroned Estrada by seventh-round knockout to win The Ring/lineal/WBC 115-pound title and was ringside on Sunday.

The brother’s corner would be a great additional backdrop for a three-belt unification. Rodriguez will instead focus on a clash with Martinez, an original goal he set when he planned to return to junior bantamweight.

Ioka previously suggested that 2024 would be his final year in the sport. He has won titles at strawweight, junior flyweight, flyweight and junior bantamweight in a Hall of Fame-worthy career.

Meanwhile, Martinez continues to have a great time, and his career prospects have never looked better.

Martinez-Ioka’s performance was broadcast live on Japanese television ABEMA.

Follow @JakeNDaBox