Lucas Bahdi turned Shakur Stevenson’s “F-level fighter” insult back on him, claiming he would knock Shakur out and telling him to focus on getting Zuffa Boxing to book his next fight.
Shakur is grading other fighters while his own next bout remains unsettled. Bahdi spotted the obvious opening: he has been in the ring with Floyd Schofield, while Shakur is still talking about who he might fight.
“Well this ‘F level fighter’ would put your little running ass on the canvas and to Zzzzzz,” Bahdi said on X. “Keep focused on Zuffa actually getting you a fight.”
That was his response to Shakur’s October 10 post: “A C lever fighter beat a F level fighter!!”
The knockout claim is something Bahdi would have to prove. Getting to Shakur would require cutting off the ring and landing against a fighter who gives opponents few clean opportunities. Bahdi’s willingness to trade with Schofield doesn’t tell us how he would handle that task.
His comment about Zuffa is harder to ignore. Shakur has been discussing potential opponents, but negotiations don’t keep a fighter active. Until those talks produce a date, Bahdi can point to the difference between fighting and commenting on everyone else.
The “F-level” label also looks excessive when placed beside Shakur’s own opposition at lightweight. He fought Shuichiro Yoshino, Edwin De Los Santos, Artem Harutyunyan, Josh Padley and William Zepeda. Zepeda is the best answer to criticism of that run. The rest leave room for an argument about how far below them Bahdi really belongs.
De Los Santos would be a difficult opponent for Bahdi because of his speed, power, and southpaw stance. Even so, there is a reasonable case that Bahdi could compete with several fighters Shakur faced at 135. Dismissing him with a letter avoids explaining what makes him so inferior.
Shakur has zero room to be handing out letter grades to anyone right now. That signature win over Teofimo Lopez gave him all the momentum in the world, but sitting on the shelf degraded that goodwill in a hurry. Fans have short memories, and prolonged inactivity turns yesterday’s masterclass into old news.