The 18-0 two-division world champion Shakur Stevenson is now lined up to fight the former IBF Super Featherweight Champion Joe Cordina on the forthcoming October 12 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The fight will take place at the Kingdom Arena as part of the prestigious Riyadh Season, top-billing the undisputed Light Heavyweight championship fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. This fight is the first of Stevenson under the banner of his new promoter, Eddie Hearn, and Matchroom Boxing.
A Short-Term Deal with Uncertain Future
Shakur Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) only joined Eddie Hearn for this fight on a one-fight deal with no indications as to what the future holds after this fight. For his part, Hearn has sought to turn him into one of the world’s leading fighters but the challenge lies in how this will be done without facing his kind of opposition that is outside the Matchroom stable.
It was described as a tune-up fight with Cordina (17-1, 9 KOs) as the perfect build-up opponent for him to defeat before preparing to aim at higher-profile opponents. Still, there is the issue of whether Hearn can be able to deliver more big-name fights for Shakur Stevenson in the future because it is a fact that boxing has been divided a lot into promotional lines.
Shakur Stevenson’s Potential Future Opponents
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To get the recognition and ensure he sustains the top spot, some upcoming bouts with other prominent fighters such as William Zepeda, Gervonta Davis, and Vasiliy Lomachenko could work best. But those fighters are not contracted with Hearn and that makes the negotiations difficult. Hearn might be able to negotiate a fight between him and Zepeda, but getting Shakur Stevenson to face Davis or Lomachenko will take a lot of money and, potentially, promotion changes.
People wondered whether he would have to switch from unified king promoter to PBC, where Davis managed to get a shot at him. However, arrogance can arise from such achievements as the possession of three-division world titles and the WBC belt, this can act as his weakness due to the possibility of having a hard time in negotiations. He views himself on par with Davis, but in terms of marketability and drawing power, Davis currently holds a significant advantage.
Eddie Hearn’s Risky Strategy
Eddie Hearn’s reaction to signing Shakur Stevenson resembles the level of his passion when he signed Demetrius Andrade for Matchroom in 2019. Regrettably, Andrade as a fighter under Hearn did not become popular and was rarely given a baptism of fire perhaps due to being pitted against obscure British contestants that did not find a market in America. Now, Hearn seems to be doing the same with Shakur Stevenson, thus facing the same prospect.
Paring him against Joe Cordina may not be palatable to American fans and this may reduce the fan base of Shakur Stevenson. As for him to achieve the level of a superstar that Hearn wants to see him, he needs fights that would be not only competitive but interesting to the wider audience. If not, then the above partnership may not help to promote Stevenson’s career as it was expected to do.
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