Shakur Stevenson says Devin Haney is “insecure” for starting the rumor that his sparring partner knocked him out during a sparring session with Liam Paro while training for his fight next Thursday night against Edwin De Los Santos on November 16th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Stevenson (20-0, 10 KOs) denies that it happened, and he says if you ask Paro, he’d tell you that he’s a “bad motherf***r.” It’s a little late for Shakur to be trying to damage control over the rumors of about him getting blasted out by Paro.
Nevertheless, boxing fans DO believe that the powerful Australian southpaw 140-pounder Paro did knock him out. Also, there’s the leaked video this week of Kevin Johnson, light welterweight, working him over during sparring.
It would be interesting to listen to Shakur’s spin on his sparring video of Kevin Johnson. How could he deny what’s plain to see, the guy blasting him with body shots?
It’s as if Shakur is saying, ‘Don’t believe your eyes. Just listen to what I say, and I’ll tell you what to believe. Now, pick your crayons & color books and get back to work.’
It’s reasonable to assume that if Kevin could do this to Shakur, a big puncher like Paro would have done far, far worse to him. There’s no shame if Shakur was knocked out by Paro because the guy is a 140-pounder and naturally bigger & stronger.
Shakur wasn’t even a big puncher when he was campaigning at 126, so he would be over-matched in the power department by a guy like Paro.
Shakur ready to capture third division title
Brian Campbell: “You and Edwin De Los Santos on Thursday night on ESPN at 10:30 Eastern. It’s a very good fight for the WBC vacant lightweight title,” said Brian Campbell on his YouTube channel, talking to Shakur Stevenson.
“At 26, if you walk out of the ring a three-division champion with an unbeaten record. What does that say about what you’ve accomplished because I know you’re not thinking about that.
“You’re thinking about down the road about everything else you’re going to accomplish, but what does this say about you up to this point?”
Shakur Stevenson: “It just says that I’m a bad mother f***. You don’t know nobody that can just jump weight classes and still look the same, or not look the same but look even better at a higher weight class. That’s what I’m coming to prove.
“I’m coming to prove that I can jump a weight and actually look better than in the lower weight classes. Honestly, I think this is the perfect opportunity for me, and I’m going to make the most of it.”
It would mean something if the guys that Shakur beat to become world champions at 126 & 130 were killers instead of softer targets.
Stevenson didn’t fight Robeisy Ramirez at 126 to pick up his belt, and he didn’t mess with Emanuel Navarrete to win his strap at 130. If Shakur captures the vacant WBC 135-lb next Thursday against De Los Santos, he will have gotten the title the easy way without risking his hide against any of these talents:
Raymond Muratalla
Frank Martin
William Zepeda
Gervonta Davis
Vasily Lomachenko
Shakur rates De Los Santos
Campbell: “It’s a unique fight here in the sense that it’s going to be a Thursday evening at 10:30 Eastern on ESPN and ESPN+. A big weekend in Vegas with F1. Do you get down like that? What do you think about this opportunity? Moving it off Saturday, going on Thursday, but this is a big week for the city in general in Las Vegas.”
Shakur: “I think it’s fun. I hope a lot of people check the boxing out, and I’m ready to put a show on for all of them.”
It’s a gamble for Top Rank to stage Shakur’s fight with De Los Santos on a Thursday night, because that’s not a traditional night for fans to watch a boxing event, which means it could go below the radar.
Shakur hasn’t helped matters by mainly talking about Devin Haney rather than De Los Santos during the build-up to next Saturday’s fight.
Yes, Shakur has received much attention by clout-chasing using Haney’s name, but his failure to mention that he’s fighting De Los Santos next has hurt the promotion.
If a fighter is going to give as many interviews as Shakur has, you got to take advantage of them by discussing your fight so that the fans can know when, where, and who you’re fighting. Shakur hasn’t done that.
Campbell: “I like it when boxing switches it up a little and gets off the typical Saturday routine and throws some nice curveballs like this. When you found out the hard-hitting Edwin De Los Santos was your opponent, what did you know about him? What do you think his style will bring to this fight?
Shakur: “Honestly, before this, I seen him fight one time, and he was fighting against Joseph Adorno, and I bet on him to win. So, I kind of checked it out. He’s a good fighter, though. He’s a solid fighter. I can’t take nothing away from him.
“They say he’s strong. That’s what everybody says. I don’t know how strong he is until we get in the ring. Let’s see, let’s find out.”
Stevenson denies being knocked out in sparring
Campbell: “We see back & forth between you and Devin Haney. It makes a lot of headlines in boxing. I think lately, Liam Paro knocked you out in sparring. : “What’s the heck going on here, Shakur? Can you give us the real info?”
Shakur: “Do you think that dude knocked me out in sparring?”
Campbell: “No, I don’t think that.”
Shakur: “The reality is Devin is insecure. When you’re in these gyms in Vegas, there’s a lot of people that make up stuff, and they make up their own version of how stuff go, and all that kind of stuff.
“Somebody my have told him some bull s**t, and he wanted to believe it so bad. He didn’t know if it was the truth or not, and he kind of went on Twitter and kind of put it out there.
“I’d like for y’all to go interview Liam Para because I’m not going to disrespect him because I don’t know if it came from him. I’m not going to disprect him because he’s quiet too. He didn’t say nothing.
“Go and interview him and ask him how those sparring sessions went with me. He’s going to tell you that I’m a bad mother f***ker, and ask him if he hurt me. He’s going to tell you ‘No.'”
Campbell: “Is that an overrated thing to use as trash talk? I guess what I’m asking is when you’re sparring for a big event, would it be normal for you to catch a big shot because you’re maybe practicing specific elements of your game?”
Shakur: “Yeah, if you’re sparring, you might get caught with something. Just like, okay, if I’m sparring today, and I get caught with a shot in sparring, you know whether you’re hurt or not. You know if you’re hurt. If you wobble. You know if you’re hurt.
“I got videos. I record every sparring, so I get to go back and watch my s**t over and over. You will know, but maybe, but that dude [Haney] got hurt by [Jorge] Linares. I don’t know how he’s here talking about.”
Campbell: “It did happen.”
Shakur: “Yeah, something that really happened. I’m a better fighter than him.”
