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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

Ryan Rozicki is waiting for Badou Jack’s consent to mandatory cooperation with the WBC

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Badou Jack Rozicki Mikaelian WBC

The World Boxing Council (WBC) ordered world cruiserweight champion Badou “The Ripper” Jack (20-1-1, 19 KO) to make a mandatory title defense against Ryan “The Bruiser” Rozicki (20-1), number 1 in the WBC ranking – 1, 19 KOs).

If both camps fail to successfully negotiate an agreement, the WBC will organize a tender on February 4, followed by the Jack vs. Rozicki. Rozicki’s promoter, Three Lions Promotions, immediately sent Team Jacek an offer to promote the fight in Canada last week.

“We are waiting for their counteroffer,” explained promoter Dan Otter of Three Lions Promotions. “Boxing has had a huge resurgence in Canada and Ryan is leading the way. He is one of the most electrifying and hardest-hitting fighters in boxing, definitely in the cruiserweight division. He wants the WBC green belt and ultimately the unification of the division. Ryan will fight Jack anywhere for the belt.”

29-year-old Rozicki, born in Sydney (Nova Scotia) and living in Hamilton (Ontario), fought 22 professional fights against 21 different opponents (twice against Yamil Alberto Peralta), stopping 19 of the 20 opponents he defeated. an eye-opening 95-KO percentage.

Jack, 41, was a 2008 Olympian representing his native Sweden. He is a three-division world champion, as well as the WBC super middleweight and World Boxing Association (WBA) lightweight heavyweight title holder. Jack has a record of 5-0-2 (2 KO) in world championship fights.

“We respect Jack and I don’t want to sound disrespectful,” Otter added, “but he’s over 40 years vintage and has been relatively inactive for two years (only one fight). He brings a lot of experience and respect to the ring, but he will fight a newborn defender with a lot of power. Jack is going to struggle and honestly, I don’t think he’ll make it past the first few rounds.”

Ryan Rozicki is on a mission to become the first Canadian cruiserweight world champion.

The next move is Badou Jack’s.

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Floyd Mayweather’s record is not normal, it can’t happen in 70 years

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Floyd Mayweather 50-0

Floyd Mayweather’s incredible 50-0 record is not normal and cannot be repeated in sports for another seventy years.

This is the view of Saudi Arabian president Turki Alalshikh, who wants to adopt the UFC model in which fighters lose many fights during their career.

In a speech as he hosted the Ring Magazine Awards after acquiring the long-running boxing publication from Oscar De La Hoya, Alalshikh was unequivocal in his opinion.

“Now losing some fights in boxing must be normal,” he explained. “All fighters want a career similar to Floyd Mayweather – no losses. This may happen once every 50, 60 or 70 years.

“We need it [to be] like currently in the UFC model, where champions lose and win,” added the matchmaker during the Riyad season.

Mayweather rose through the sport in the tardy 1990s to become one of its youngest superstars. Mayweather’s professional success came after winning a bronze medal at the Olympics after losing to Serafim Todorov.

Winning world titles in five weight classes, Mayweather was untouchable. The Grand Rapids native only came close to defeat a few times. He dominated Manny Pacquiao and overtook Canelo Alvarez and Oscar De La Hoya after heated debates, with decisions that should have been made unanimously.

Towards the end of his career, Mayweather chose to face Andre Berto and Conor McGregor, easily winning and ending his boxing career at the age of 50 without ever going out. Calling himself “the greatest of all time,” Mayweather earned first-ballot Hall of Fame honors and is widely considered one of, if not the greatest defensive fighter of all time.

However, Alalshikh says this type of career needs to end so that fans can get the most out of boxing, as is the case with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Boxing needs to become more attractive, and Alalshikh sees the failures of top stars as a way to keep interest at an all-time high.

In this sport, many boxers enjoy undefeated streaks, the most notable of which is Oleksandr Usyk. The Ukrainian Pound for Pound King is 23-0 and has beaten the best he has to offer in his division and cruiserweight classification.

It remains a mystery how Alalshikh plans to make Usyk suffer while he dominates everyone else. By the time his grand plan goes into action, Usyk will be long gone, and Gervonta Davis, Shakur Stevenson and Devin Haney may be more realistic targets.

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Manny Pacquiao remains the favorite to win the title against Mario Barrios

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Manny Pacquiao vs Barrios

WBN understands that despite alternative options emerging, it is more likely that Manny Pacquiao will face Mario Barrios next.

Bob Santos, coach of WBC welterweight champion Barrios, told World Boxing News that he is currently in contact with Pacquiao’s team. Asked by WBN if he had spoken to Pacquiao or representatives of any other challenger, Santos replied: “Yes, Pacquiao’s promoter, Sean Gibbons.” Pressed on whether Barrios vs Pacquiao might happen next, he added: “It’s challenging to say. We’ll have to see how this plays out.”

WBN contacted Santos after Conor Benn emerged as a potential alternative to Barrios. The British fighter, who recently returned from a suspension following two positive drug tests, is keen to return to competition.

Benn showed favor with the World Boxing Council at the recent WBC Convention, the WBC Evaluation Committee and during an interview with the sanctioning body over the weekend. “The Destroyer” is ranked second in the rankings at 147 pounds, despite less than solid opponents during his time in exile, during which Benn competed twice in the United States while his career in the United Kingdom was in doubt.

As he battled to clear his name and with the British Anti-Doping Authority finding no evidence that Benn had intentionally taken ostarine, the 28-year-old’s career took a pointed nosedive. Despite this, he remains highly rated and at least one step away from fighting for an eliminator or one of the remaining championship titles.

However, Pacquiao remains Barrios’ favorite. Now it’s up to the boxing legend and Hall of Famer who got the first votes to secure his shot. WBN believes a July date – most likely at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas – is the most realistic date for a Nevada swan song.

Pacquiao could extend his record as the oldest welterweight champion by six years if he can secure a huge victory over the 29-year-old world champion. At 46 years antique, such a scenario remains unlikely, but he can never be compared to one of the greatest players of this generation.

Unlike heavier boxers and his training regiment, Pacquiao looks in great shape despite his advanced age. Everything is set for a massive return to the boxing capital of the world, provided Pacquiao and his team can manage his political ambitions, which are expected to run from this month until May. After that time, Pacquiao could find himself in the summer finals and become the all-time champion, regardless of the result.

Barrios is based in the city, where he trained with Santos, and would be the perfect opponent to see out the career of one of the greatest fighters in history.

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