Shakur Calls Himself “The Best” — Fans Aren’t Buying It

Shakur Stevenson is calling himself “the best fighter” in boxing while asking fans to purchase tickets for his fight against Teofimo Lopez.

The reaction to Shakur’s social media message has been less than favorable. Many fans don’t view him as “the best.” Some believe he’s bad for the sport and don’t understand why Turki Alalshikh continues promoting him on Riyadh Season cards.

Shakur isn’t exciting to watch for the average American fan, the same audience that buys PPV events in large numbers. His retro-Mayweather-esque style doesn’t belong in this era of the sport. What he is good at are these two things:

• Posting on X
• Bragging about himself

Those opposed to Stevenson being given a prime spot on Turki’s cards point out the contradiction. Shakur has said in the past that he wants to return boxing to the glory days of Muhammad Ali, when the sport was mainstream in the U.S.

If the idea is to bring boxing back by putting it on regular network channels, talking about it everywhere, and making it accessible again, building around a dull fighter with a non-crowd-pleasing style isn’t the way to do it. Turki should be loading his cards with fighters who engage and entertain.

Most of what Shakur does well happens outside the ring. It has nothing to do with the sport itself. He’s more of a social media personality at this point. Similar to influencer boxing, just without the same pull or personality.

“Buy tickets on January 31st. The best fighter in the sport is going to show up and show everyone why I’m the best. Teofimo Lopez, he’s just a guy that’s in my story. I can’t wait to show y’all,” said Shakur Stevenson to Ring Magazine, urging fans on X to purchase tickets for his fight against Teofimo Lopez.

These are the fighters Turki should be including on his cards if he truly wants to bring boxing back to its glory days:

• Gary Antuanne Russell
• Subriel Matias
• Jaron Ennis
• David Benavidez
• David Morrell
• William Zepeda
• Andy Cruz
• Floyd Schofield

Those are the fighters who get fans excited because they show up to entertain.

Fighters Turki should stop building cards around

• Shakur Stevenson
• Devin Haney
• Terence Crawford
• Richardson Hitchins