By Sean Jones: Shakur Stevenson revealed today that former unified lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr has turned down a fight against him next.
IBF super featherweight champion Joe Cordina and Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz have volunteered to fight Stevenson, but those two aren’t the ones that Stevenson has been targeting.
Shakur has had zero luck in getting a dance partner since announcing his intention to move up to the 135-lb weight class, and it’s not all that surprising. If Stevenson wants to increase his chances of getting fights, he needs to move around weight classes the way the famous fighters of the past did, like Henry Armstrong.
Instead of Stevenson complaining 24/7 and acting helpless, he needs to go up to 140 and 147 and call out these killers:
- Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis
- Gary Antuanne Russell
- Subriel Matias
- Vergil Ortiz Jr
- Keith Thurman
- Yordenis Ugas
- Regis Prograis
Being that Stevenson is a southpaw, defensive-oriented, and not popular with casual boxing fans, he checks all the boxes for the type of fighter that is typically avoided by other fighters.
Fighters don’t want to face southpaws, and they’re even more hesitant to mix it up with ‘pull-back’ boxers, who retreat backward after unloading their shots the way Stevenson does.
Stevenson has now come up empty three times in a row, failing to get these guys:
- Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz
- William Zepeda
- George Kambosos Jr
The 29-year-old Kambosos (20-2, 10 KOs), who lost both of his fights this year to Devin Haney, said on social media that he’s going to take a “well-deserved’ vacation with his family.
Without explicitly naming Shakur as his desired opponent, Kambosos added that an “end-of-the-year war” could be coming in 2023.
It’ll be interesting to see if Kambosos agrees to a fight with the 25-year-old Stevenson. Considering that Kambosos was soundly beaten in his last two contests by Haney, it’ll be surprising if his management goes in the direction of Shakur for his next fight.
Respect champ I understand this is just the 3rd time I get rejected and I haven’t had one fight at 135 but understandable u been thru a lot rest up and when u ready I’ll be here waiting 💪🏾 https://t.co/JltTNeTuJq
— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) December 14, 2022
3rd person turned me down and I haven’t fought one fight at 135 No Kambosas fight either smh Let’s see who’s next
— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) December 14, 2022
Let’s do it I can def do a catch weight https://t.co/hzp6KrD3gE
— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) December 14, 2022
Yessir all respect champ. Let’s make it happen @RGMPROMO https://t.co/qSbaLGulpf
— Joseph Diaz (@JosephDiazJr) December 13, 2022
If Stevenson wants to get the top guys are 135 to fight him, he needs to be more offensive-oriented and give up on his pull-back style of fighting.
Staying in the pocket more will result in Shakur winning over more boxing fans because the last thing they want to watch is a fighter that is pulling back after throwing single punches the way Shakur does.
It would also help if Stevenson turned his fighting stance around from southpaw to orthodox because that’ll make it easier on his opponents.
