Promoter Eddie Hearn says his fighter Shakur Stevenson won’t be able to run around the ring on Saturday night because William Zepeda is going to be going after him all night on July 12th.
Hearn has been wrong before, and I suspect he’ll be covering his ears to muffle the boos if WBC lightweight champion Stevenson (23-0, 11 KOs) chooses not to stand and fight the challenger Zepeda (33-0, 27 KOs).
Turki Alalshikh has laid out his Tom and Jerry directive for the fighters on Saturday’s DAZN PPV card to follow. If Shakur chooses to ignore him, it’s going to be interesting to see the look on Turki’s face as he watches.
Hearn: Shakur Can’t Run
“Zepeda is going to come forward all night. Shakur is not going to be able to run around the ring. He doesn’t run around the ring anyway. He’s just very smart,” said Eddie Hearn to the Ring Magazine channel, giving a euphemistic label to Shakur Stevenson’s running.”
Notice how Hearn caught himself after admitting that Shakur is a runner. He quickly changed his tune by saying that he “doesn’t run.” It’s an old Freudian slip. He spoke the truth about Jerry, and then caught himself and reversed course.
“I get all this Tom and Jerry stuff. You’ve got to do your best not to get hit. Turki Alalshikh isn’t in the fighter’s camp in the way that he’s looking at the longevity of a fighter’s career. He just wants entertainment, and he wants it now. He’s paying top dollar for entertainment,” said Hearn.
It doesn’t matter if Turki isn’t in Shakur or other fighters’ camps. If he’s paying them millions for entertainment, he should expect them not to run around the ring, stinking up the joint while fans boo. He wants his events to do well, bring in good numbers, and be praised by fans as bringing value.
Turki can’t do that if he allows fighters to turn their fights into Tom and Jerry affairs. So, he’s not in the wrong for expecting Shakur to fight. Ideally, don’t invite him back if he turns his fight against William Zepeda into a track meet. Stevenson has received the warning, and if he chooses to disregard it, don’t invite him back. That’s what I would do if I were Turki.
Turki Demands Action
“You’re just not going to get these fighters changing their style because Turki wants an entertaining fight. I think this is the kind of fight where Shakur is really going to show his greatness,” said Hearn.
If the runners like Shakur and Devin Haney refuse to change their styles, Turki can phase them out and focus on using only the entertaining ones. They’ll change their ways if Turki leaves them off his invite list, which I would have done ages ago. You can’t expect Stevenson to change how he fights because he’s not physically suited to fight in the pocket with the killers at 135 or even at 130.
