By Chris Williams: Frank Martin took to social media last Sunday to deny that he’d ducking a November 16th fight against Shakur Stevenson for the vacant WBC lightweight title, saying, “I ain’t duck s**t.”
Frank could be right if the rumors are true that he’s being lined up for a mega-payday against the biggest star in the 135-lb division, Gervonta Davis.
Why should Martin fight Shakur for pennies and likely lose when he can make a fortune fighting Tank Davis and move to a wealthy neighborhood in Beverly Hills?
The only way Martin won’t look like he ducked the fight is if his management has set up a fight against superstar Tank Davis next because no one would blame him for taking that fight.
The money that Martin would make fighting Shakur is chump change compared to what he’ll get in a bout with Tank Davis.
You can’t criticize #2 WBC-ranked Martin for pulling out of the November 16th fight against Shakur Stevenson if he’s being lined up for a fight with Tank Davis next.
Shakur doesn’t believe for a second the rumors of Frank Martin fighting Tank, saying it’s a media-created story, but he doesn’t know whether it is or isn’t.
Media is sick they make up rumors just to protect certain fighters image.. What y’all even talking bout that man ain’t pull out to fight nobody else 🤦🏾♂️
— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) September 10, 2023
Martin (18-0, 12 KOs) surprisingly pulled out of the fight after agreeing to terms, which fans & Shakur view as a blatant duck job. We’ll see if Martin has a bigger fight on tap against Tank Davis, as it’s got to be a fairly big name for him to walk away from the Stevenson fight.
Top Rank obviously isn’t happy about this because they had big plans on staging the Shakur vs. Martin fight on November 16th in Las Vegas to take advantage of the flood of fans that will be coming to the city for the Formula 1 Grand Prix that weekend.
We’ll see if Top Rank will keep Shakur on the November 16th date. Edwin De Los Santos is the next possible opponent to face Shakur, but there isn’t much time to lock him in.
The Shakur-Martin fight would have been shown on ESPN, and many of the Formula 1 fans would stuck around to watch it to bring in big ratings and create new fans for the 26-year-old former two-division world champion Shakur, who needs them.
Unfortunately for Top Rank, Stevenson’s rise to stardom has been glacially slow due in part to his defensive focus in his game, and that’s not the type of fighting style that this era fans enjoy seeing.
Shakur’s hit-and-run style is more suited to Mayweather’s past era of paying tag, leaving fans feeling unfulfilled & ripped off, watching boring fights. That style is archaic and likely wouldn’t fly with this generation of fans, who like to see action, not pot-shot fighters who take off running after landing a single punch.
I Ain’t Duck Shit…
— Frank Martin (@TheGhost_2016) September 11, 2023
