The lithe champion of WBC Shakur Stevenson has a lot of pressure on him to make him look impressive tonight, defeating Josh Padley in the Kingdom of the Arena in Riyadh. This is not someone who Shakur (22-0, 10 KO) can afford to fight if he doesn’t want to be ridiculed by fans More than he is already. If Shakur escapes from this guy today, it’s over. His career will never be the same.
Stevenson told Padley on Friday that he was going to beat his “A **” on Saturday. Now, if he escapes from Padley, as he did with a dozen his previous opponents, he will show fans what he meant.
What if he fails?
Realistically, Stevenson needs a knockout Padleya (15-0, 4 KO), to leave this fight without a violent inheritance. This is one of those fights in which you can’t gain anything, because Padley is not the best ten -level warrior. He is only a fighter at the British level who was chosen by his promoter Eddie Hearn. Shakur needs a knockout in six rounds to get out of this fight.
This fight is more crucial for Shakur, because Hearn wants to set up a “biggest fight in boxing” against Gervont Davis. He would look stupid, pressing this fight if Stevenson struggles tonight and strives for a tedious 12-round decision.
Hearn needs Shakur to look like 24 -carat gold against Josh, so that he can go to Turk Alalshikh and ask for assist in luring Davis’s tank to fight him. Without Turk, Hearn has no hope of combining this fight. He does not intend to empty the match boxing chest to come up with a cake to encourage Gervonta to Shakura in a fight, which probably will not cover the costs.
Shakur is not a draw of PPV, and Tank had only one fight during his 12-year career against Ryan Garcia. Fans who bought the event were probably 12 -meter Observers Ryan on Instagram. Shakur is not popular in social media, such as Ryan.
That is why it is crucial that Shakur looks great tonight. He is a smaller warrior who is expected to be destroyed if it is worthy of sharing the ring with the tank. Of course, Shakur is not what Hearn says. There is no pound for pounds No. 1 or one of the best fighters in sport. He is only a defensive guy, and 90% of his game is a defense, and only 10% is images.
That Hearn would sign Shakur on only a contract for two fights. I would do the same. I would sign Shakura for a miniature contract, adapt him to the opposition’s down to make him look good, and then press tank fights tough. There I would direct profit. After Shakur lost this fight, I would sign it again because it will be disclosed and the reconstruction would cost him too much money.