What Hearn doesn’t understand is that Shakur’s career would likely look very similar, with ups and downs, if he fought higher-level fighters at 135 and 140.
If he’d been testing himself the way Teofimo has over the last five years, there’s a very good chance Shakur would have lost multiple times by now. Matchmaking covers a multitude of flaws.
“People don’t realize how consistent Shakur Stevenson is. If you look at Teofimo Lopez, he’s like this [up and down],” said Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn to YSM Sports Media. “Coming off the back of the Loma fight, he lost the trajectory because life gets tough.”
Consistency is easy when a fighter like Shakur is feasting on tailor-made opponents. I won’t go into the long list of fighters Stevenson has faced during his career. But what I will say is that he has not run the same gauntlet that Teofimo has.
Teofimo has had the hard road as a pro, a real trooper. If you had 10 more like him in a platoon, you’d have an elite team.
“When these kids start making a load of money and getting a lot of fame, it’s not easy to deal with. Fighters should look at Shakur. He’s always in camp. He’s never out of shape. You’ll never see him out drunk. You’ll never see him out doing stupid things. Money is secondary. Legacy is principle,” said Hearn.
Fighters can live it up outside the ring and still find success. Where it goes off the rails is when they put on a lot of weight, drink too much, and stay inactive for long stretches.
What Hearn isn’t saying is that once some fighters get a taste of money, they focus on looking for similar well-paying fights. That’s all their careers have become. They morph into prize fighters, and they’re often not facing the best.
One can argue that’s what Shakur has become. He got a taste of the gold riches against William Zepeda with a reported $5 million payday, and now he’s abandoned the WBC lightweight division and gone up to 140 to face Teofimo Lopez.
This is about money. In his last seven fights, Teo has looked like the shell of the fighter who beat Lomachenko in 2020.
