Issue no. 19: Shakur Stevenson Gets A Fresh Start

Ahead of his first professional fight inside Madison Square Garden, I remember speaking with then-20-year-old boxer Shakur Stevenson.

The fresh-faced pugilist had a smile plastered across his face that never contracted, even during sparring sessions.

He was immediately memorable.

Representing for Newark, NJ, Stevenson had won the silver medal a year prior at the 2016 Olympics, and was entering the professional ranks with a lot of anticipation.

His poise, boxing acumen and timing of his professional arrival struck me as a someone that could one day become the face of boxing.

Amiable and confident, everything was ahead of him.

Debuting at featherweight, Stevenson was just one weight class lighter than Floyd Mayweather Jr. was when he began his professional career in 1996.

So, without giving it too much thought, I concluded our interview by asking Stevenson: “Do you think you’re the next Mayweather?”

I remember hating the question that I had just asked him. It epitomized what I thought was lazy journalism.

Nonetheless, Stevenson caught me with an answer that I haven’t forgotten.

“I’m not the next anybody,” he said. “I’m the first Shakur Stevenson.”

It was said with humble self belief. It wasn’t brash or forced self promotion. He was refreshing. I became a fan. I’ve remained one.

So, on Thursday when he announced he's signed with Matchroom Boxing and their promotional team, the news hit as a renewed breath of fresh air.

Having conquered the Featherweight, Super Featherweight and Lightweight divisions under the promotion of Top Rank, the three-division champ grew frustrated with a lack of big name opponents.

Often drawing the ire of Stevenson was Top Rank CEO Bob Arum and who Stevenson believed to be his star, Vasiliy Lomachenko.

Stevenson’s assumption is not farfetched, as the two lightweights have either been unwilling or unable to agree to fight each other. The same can be said for other top lightweights, Gervonta Davis and William Zepeda.

Despite Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn making his bones as a British promoter, he has put together some of boxing’s biggest fights in the last several years.

So, I’m curious to see how Stevenson’s second half of his career unfolds.