Shakur Stevenson Loses Respect for Lomachenko

Shakur Stevenson wants IBF lightweight champion Vasily Lomachenko to retire if he’s not going to fight him or Gervonta Davis. Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) says he’s “lost respect” for the 36-year-old former three-division world champion Lomachenko (18-3, 12 KOs) because he talked “wreckless” to him outside of the ring but then didn’t want to fight him.

Stevenson has been after Lomachenko to fight him for ages, but he’s not shown interest. The unwillingness of Shakur to engage, his focus on hit-and-not-get-hit style, and his not being a commercial draw could be factors for why Lomachenko has shown no desire to fight him.

Lomachenko fought fighters similar to Shakur during his amateur days in Ukraine, but he may not be willing to chase him around the ring in a fight that is being booed by fans.

Shakur Wants Lomachenko To Retire

WBC lightweight champion Shakur feels that he and Tank Davis are the two best fighters at 135, and he says if Loma doesn’t want to fight either, he needs to hang up his gloves. Interestingly, Shakur isn’t telling Tank Davis to retire because he’s not interested in fighting him. Why is that?

Could it be that Shakur wants to ensure he gets that big payday against Tank because he should be telling him to retire, too? The money that Shakur would get fighting Tank would be far more than he’s made during his professional career.

So, it makes sense for Shakur not to step on his toes because he needs that money. Given his physical problems, lack of power, and safety-first fighting style in this weight class, he’s not likely to last as a championship-level fighter.

Many fans believe Shakur doesn’t belong at 135, as he’s a fish out of the water and can’t thrive on dry land against the power punchers at lightweight. We saw that clearly in Shakur’s fight against Edwin De Los Santos last November, when he ran around the ring for 12 rounds, trying not to get hit.

Stevenson Labels Loma “Soft”

“Nah, I’m kind of over it. I think he’s soft. When I seen at that last fight when he pushed up and was talking to me kind of wreckless, but he don’t want to get in a boxing ring and square off. I think he’s soft,” said Shakur Stevenson to Boxing News, trashing Vasily Lomachenko for not agreeing to fight him.

Shakur can’t be “over it” if he demands that Lomachenko retire. Shakur is bitter about not being given a fight against him and wants him out of the sport because he didn’t get his way.

It’ll be interesting to see how Shakur reacts when he’s 36, like Loma, and there’s a younger fighter that is demanding that he fight him. Will he be willing to accommodate that fighter or turn up his nose and ignore the guy? It’s easy for Shakur to talk boldly now at 27, but when he’s 36, will he be willing to take on the young killers?

Given Shakur’s fragile hands, lack of power, and his defensive style of fighting that depends on reflexes, it’s unlikely that he’ll still be in the sport at Lomachenko’s age. There’s not enough balance in Shakur’s game to have a long career. He’s all defense and no offense. It’s like a 90-10 defense imbalance over offense with Shakur. Those types don’t last.

No Respect For Lomachenko

“I have respect for him for what he’s done in the sport of boxing, but lately, I kind of lost a lot of respect for him just because our altercation was more so like he was rowdy outside of the ring. He don’t want to get inside the ring and settle it,” said Shakur.

“I don’t even see the point of him boxing if he’s not going to fight me or he’s not going to fight Tank. What’s the point of you boxing? What are you doing? You can go get some quick money. Go do that if that’s your case. Other than that, don’t mention yourself in talks with us because you don’t even want to fight us,” said Shakur.

If Shakur loses to William Zepeda on February 22nd, his career is going to be in bad shape, and it won’t matter anymore about Lomachenko not fighting him. Shakur will need to have his promoter, Eddie Hearn, come to his rescue to save his career with his special matchmaking ability.

Hearn will do that for struggling fighters for a while, but he won’t do it indefinitely for guys who can’t swim with the sharks. Shakur is a classic example of a guy who isn’t going to stay afloat for long at lightweight.  Hearn will try and do a rebuild job on Shakur if he loses to Zepeda, but he’s not going to protect him for the rest of his career if he can’t beat the top-rung fighters.