Chris Mannix thinks Shakur Stevenson would stop Manny Pacquiao if they fight. Sergio Mora agrees and hates the matchup. That is a startling amount of confidence in a stoppage from two men discussing a fighter who usually wins by making opponents miss.
“I hate that fight,” Mora said on Boxing with Mannix and Mora. He called Stevenson a “pound-for-pound cheetah with boxing gloves” and questioned why Pacquiao would take this fight at nearly 50. Mannix pictured Shakur catching Pacquiao repeatedly as he attacks. Mora went further, comparing the potential punishment to Larry Holmes beating an aging Muhammad Ali.
The age concern is fair, but the stoppage talk is harder to buy. Shakur’s lack of power is only half the problem with the prediction. His first priority is avoiding punches. He lands, moves, and makes opponents start over rather than staying in range to build an attack. That approach can win rounds convincingly, but it gives a hurt fighter time to recover.
To stop Pacquiao, Shakur would likely have to hold his position after landing and throw again while Pacquiao is close enough to answer. That is a real gamble against a southpaw who can still fire fast combinations from unusual angles. Shakur may be skilled enough to outbox him, but Mannix and Mora are asking him to take chances he has spent his career avoiding.
Mora’s Holmes comparison takes the prediction into melodrama. Holmes was a heavyweight who hurt Ali with sustained offense. Shakur generally chooses the safer shot and steps away. He might outbox Pacquiao, but predicting that he pins him to the ropes for a prolonged beating asks Shakur to fight differently from the man we have watched.
A move toward 147 pounds adds another question. Shakur has not shown much stopping power against lightweights. Carrying more weight against Pacquiao would hardly make him a heavier puncher overnight. Pacquiao’s age may slow his attacks, but Shakur still has to give him openings if he intends to stand close enough to force a stoppage.
Mannix cautioned that the fight may never happen. He noted that Pacquiao has been linked to plenty of matchups that went nowhere. Shakur would gain attention and a famous name from it, but a win over a nearly 50-year-old Pacquiao would tell us less about his standing than a fight with a leading opponent of his own generation.
The idea that Shakur Stevenson suddenly morphs into an offensive power puncher capable of stopping anyone, let alone Manny Pacquiao, is unrealistic given what he’s shown during his professional and amateur career.
To score a stoppage when you lack one-punch power, you have to sit down on your punches, hold your ground in the pocket, and commit to sustained combinations. Shakur’s entire nervous system is wired to do the exact opposite. The second real heat comes his way, his instinct is to reset, step back, and look for an exit route. That survival reflex makes him difficult to look good against, but it completely removes any possibility of him breaking down a durable opponent.
Cuba’s Robeisy Ramirez exposed the foundational flaw in Shakur’s game in the Olympic finals in Rio de Janeiro. When Ramirez stepped to him, closed the distance, and made him uncomfortable with genuine spite and power, Shakur retreated into his shell. He did not bite down on his mouthpiece and trade. He looked for survival space, let the rounds slip away, and cried in the back after the decision went against him.
The exact same allergic reaction to contact surfaced in the pros against Edwin De Los Santos. The moment Shakur felt De Los Santos had legitimate dynamite in his hands, he shut down the offense entirely, threw single-digit punches a round, and spent thirty-six minutes in full retreat. If a limited puncher like De Los Santos can turn Shakur into a track star, imagine what happens when he feels the straight left hand of a seasoned welterweight legend who comes forward throwing in flurries.
If Shakur tries to stand in the pocket to prove Mannix right, he walks into potential problems. Pacquiao, even past his absolute prime, thrives against opponents who give him stationary targets in mid-range. To stop Pacquiao, Shakur would have to absorb sharp, explosive counters from strange angles. Nothing in Shakur’s professional career suggests his chin or his mindset can tolerate that kind of trade-off.
He would take two clean punches to land three keep-away shots, realize the return fire is too dangerous, and immediately climb right back on his bicycle. Mannix is dreaming if he thinks Shakur has the firepower or the stomach to force a referee to step in. There’s nothing wrong with that style, but it’s not going to be enough to knock out Pacquiao.