“I’m in the money-getting business,” Shakur said to ESPN about his Zuffa deal. “The money is insane.”

Shakur also rejected the suggestion that signing with Zuffa will limit his career options.

“I wouldn’t have signed if I can’t get the fights that I want. When it comes down to it, I want to fight the biggest and best fights. That’s what I’m in the sport for. We’re not looking for no little, small fights that don’t do nothing for me or my career,” said Shakur.

He then revealed that becoming the undisputed champion is no longer his primary objective.

“I’m not really thinking of being an undisputed champion. I just want to fight the biggest fights. I want to fight the guys that the fans want to see me fight, guys that they’ve been calling for years,” Stevenson said.

The comments signal that Stevenson is placing greater emphasis on marquee fights than adding more titles to his collection.

Asked who he wants next, Shakur pointed to WBO welterweight champion Devin Haney while also renewing his interest in a long-discussed showdown with Gervonta Davis.

“Hopefully my next fight is with Devin Haney since Conor Benn isn’t here. Or, hopefully it’s Gervonta Davis. I haven’t been calling his name lately, but now is the time to fight, so let’s do it,” said Shakur.

One matchup he immediately ruled out was a fight against fellow Zuffa boxer Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela.

“I’m turning the fight down publicly right now just in case that they do come to the table and say, ‘Oh, we want to fight Rayo.’ Shakur will not be fighting Rayo. That will not be happening.”

Shakur’s comments also suggest he expects to have more flexibility than other fighters under the Zuffa banner. Although the promotion launched with its own weight classes and roster, he doesn’t believe those plans will prevent him from pursuing major fights across the sport.

“With all due respect, I feel like I’m the biggest fighter that they got, and there are certain limitations and things that we could do and play around with. I don’t feel like anything is off limits,” said Shakur.

Those remarks leave open the possibility of cross-promotional fights, even as many of the opponents fans most want Stevenson to face remain with rival promoters. He says he signed with Zuffa believing the promotion can deliver both the major fights and the financial rewards he is looking for.

Oleksandr Usyk is appreciated almost unanimously amongst boxing fans for his remarkable career and elite skill, but there is one former cruiserweight world champion who believes the Ukrainian to be an ‘average southpaw’.

After claiming the gold medal at the London 2012 Olympic Games, Usyk excelled as a cruiserweight in the professional ranks, becoming the first four-belt undisputed champion of the division by trumping the likes of Krzysztof Glowacki, Mairis Briedis and Murat Gassiev on away soil.

Usyk then defended the undisputed crown against Tony Bellew before moving up to heavyweight and sensationally replicating the feat by dethroning Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury – and also coming out on top in rematches against both men.

Now, as Usyk’s career reaches its final chapter, with a farewell fight currently being discussed, fans are beginning to reflect on his inspirational success.

The longest-reigning cruiserweight champion of all time, Johnny Nelson, seems less impressed, telling the Fight Your Corner podcastof his opinion that Usyk is and always has been an ‘average southpaw’.

“I have said, Oleksandr Usyk is an average southpaw. I’m not saying that he is an average fighter, but as a southpaw, his style was average. You get outstanding southpaws that make you think, ‘wow, you have got it’, Pernell Whittaker, people like ‘Naz’ [Hameed]outstanding southpaws who use that style to the best of their ability.

“I didn’t say that he was average, as a southpaw he was average. In regards to when he was fighting Tony, to this day I thought that he [Bellew] was doing really well, I thought that he was ahead on points.”

Usyk’s career finale is likely to be a bout with former WBC heavyweight ruler Deontay Wilderwho he has been keen to face in order to complete his hit-list of rival heavyweights in his generation.

Gervonta Davis’ prolonged inactivity is set to continue but it seems that he will have a host of options upon his eventual return, with a fellow unbeaten knockout artist being the latest to agree to a showdown with ‘Tank’.

Winless since June 2024, Davis’ only fight since has been a draw against Lamont Roach Jrwith legal issues continuing to get in the way of his return and causing him to lose his WBA lightweight title after being demoted to ‘champion-in-recess’.

After initially being linked to bouts against both Floyd Schofield and Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz, it hasnow reported that the Baltimore-born operator will not fight this year, instead declaring that Davis’ return will take place in early 2027.

However, whilst seemingly unavailable for the remainder of the year, Davis has next called for a bizarre clash with newly-crowned WBA bantamweight titleholder, Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez, according to the latter’s trainer, Robert Garcia, as per BoxingScene.

“You know who else he called out? He didn’t put it on social media but we have the messages he sent, he called out Bam. I’m telling you guys. He called out Bam and said ‘I want to fight you next. I’m going to talk to Al Haymon to make it happen.’”

Garcia then went on to address the obvious elephant in the room, given the four-division weight difference between the pound-for-pound stars, but maintained that Rodriguez accepted the call-out without hesitation.

“I don’t even know if [Davis] was thinking of the weight difference from 118lbs [bantamweight] to 135 [lightweight]but ‘Bam’ didn’t hesitate. He messaged back, ‘All right, let’s do it.’”

Whilst Rodriguez is willing, it is expected that the Texan will instead square-off with Naoya Inoue in a challenge for the undisputed super-bantamweight throne during the first quarter of 2027.