WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson is starting to sound desperate for an opponent for his July 6th headliner in Newark, New Jersey. Shakur is so desperate now that he’s practically begging promoter Oscar De La Hoya to give him Floyd ‘Kid Austin’ Schofield next on that date.
Shakur can forget about Kid Austin because he’s out with an injury. That bad cut ain’t going to vanish by July 6th.
The 21-year-old Kid Austin (17-0, 12 KOs) suffered a bad cut in his last fight against Esteuri Suero on March 16th in Las Vegas, and there’s no chance he’ll be able to fight soon in July against Shakur.
Fans Aren’t Buying the Rumored Opponents
Shakur has been rumored to be fighting either Zaur Abdullaev or Artem Harutyunyan. Fans have laughed at Shakur for stooping to the level of fighting one of those guys. It looks like Shakur’s standards have dropped since coming out of retirement.
If this is the best Shakur can do, he ain’t even trying to get a real opponent for July 6th. Stevenson has got that “anybody, please?” energy going on, which isn’t a good look.
Things are starting to look bleak for Skakur. De La Hoya told him that #1 WBC William Zepeda has plans to fight soon. Oscar said he’ll talk to his promoter [Top Rank] about a fight in the third quarter.
Shakur Stevenson: “What about Kid Austin? He talks super tough about my name over social media. I don’t mind beating the s*** out of him on July 6th. I’m sick and tired of all the clout-chasing. What’s the word? Can we make that one happen?”
Oscar De La Hoya: “[William] Zepeda is fighting soon for the second time this year. I’ll talk to your promoter third quarter of this year.”
Who’s Left for Shakur?
Shakur (21-0, 10 KOs) might have to bite the bullet and give Edwin De Los Santos a rematch because it doesn’t look good for him to line up an opponent for July 6th. That guy that many boxing fans feel deserves a fight against Stevenson, 26, after the controversial decision Shakur got in their last fight in November, which many fans saw as a pure robbery.
Trainer Robert Garcia said they reached out to Shakur “weeks ago” for him to fight his #2 contender Raymond Muratalla, but they never heard back from him. Interestingly, Shakur said he hadn’t heard anything about this. He denies everything. Fans smell something fishy going on, like some ducking.
People believe Shakur is running scared of Muratalla (21-0, 16 KOs), a dangerous puncher who would be looking to knockout Stevenson from the word go if they fight on July 6th.
Muratalla is fighting this Friday night, on March 29th, against Xolisani Ndongeni in a 10-round bout on the undercard of Oscar Valdez vs. Liam Wilson at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. The event will be shown on ESPN.
Well if u reached out I haven’t heard one word about him.. But like I said I’m right here I’m not going no where! https://t.co/25AM0NcHrm
— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) March 27, 2024