WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson hasn’t given up on his relentless campaign to fight Vasily Lomachenko despite his lack of interest in that match.
Today, Stevenson (21-0, 10 KOs) encouraged his followers to do his dirty work for him by pushing Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs) into fighting him. It’s beyond embarrassing to see Shakur begging like this.
Stevenson needs to move on and do the right thing by giving Edwin De Los Santos a rematch to clear up the controversy from their fight last November. Shakur needs to show some pride and never mention Loma’s name again.
The Cold, Hard Truth
The reality is that Lomachenko wants nothing to do with Shakur because he’s not popular, and he has a safety-first style. Loma wants money fights against popular fighters.
“Somebody ask Loma if he will fight me after Kambosas. Y’all asking the wrong s***, man,” said Shakur Stevenson on X, wanting to fight Vasily Lomachenko if he comes out victorious in his May 11th fight against George Kambosos Jr.
“He won’t win, but the question is, will he fight me? He turned me down before, lol,” said Shakur, reacting to being asked if he would fight Kambosos Jr. if he’s victorious over Lomachenko.
“If that’s the next move, which it wouldn’t even surprise me if it is, then they both soft,” said Stevenson when told that Lomachenko will likely fight Emanuel Navarrete next if he defeats Kambosos.
“I’m with that, too,” said Shakur about his interest in fighting Gervonta Davis next and Lomachenko.
That De Los Santos Fight Was the Final Nail
Stevenson needs to give up on his hopeless pipe dream of getting a fight against Lomachenko because it’s never going to happen in a million years.
Unfortunately, Shakur’s last fight against Edwin De Los Santos permanently ruined his chances of facing Lomachenko or Emanuel Navarrete, as neither of these Top Rank-promoted fighters wants anything to do with him now. That fight ruined it forever for Shakur, dooming him.
If Shakur gave De Los Santos a rematch and stood in the pocket for the entire bout, it would help him get the bigger names to fight him. Shakur won’t do that because De Los Santos hits too hard, and he’d get chewed up if he fought him stationary.
The Raymond Muratalla Situation
At this point, the only fighter that Shakur can count on Top Rank offering him is the unbeaten #2 WBC Raymond Muratalla (19-0, 16 KOs).
Interestingly, Shakur doesn’t want to fight him for some reason. Muratalla is like a better version of Edwin De Los Santos, and Shakur had all kinds of problems against that guy last November, running for 12 rounds and being booed out of the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Murata is like De Los Santos 2.0, but even better.
Top Rank will not let Shakur fight Lomachenko or Emanuel Navarrete because his contract with them has only one fight left. Stevenson, 26, is expected to leave Top Rank and sign with PBC once his contract is up after one more fight.