Promoter Bob Arum dismisses Shakur Stevenson’s feedback about his perception that he’s been defending Vasily Lomachenko from him by deliberately not making the conflict to maintain him from getting crushed.

Arum factors out that fighters have a say in why they want to battle, and it’s not for him to determine.

Shakur’s Frustration

Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs), the WBC light-weight champion, has been bitter about Arum’s choice to battle IBF champion Lomachenko, who was in the identical Prime Rank secure.

Shakur felt that Arum ought to have given him Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr. after he moved as much as the light-weight division in 2023. Nonetheless, as an alternative of Stevenson getting these two fights at 135, he was matched towards these fighters:

– Artem Harutyunyan
– Edwin De Los Santos
– Shuichiro Yoshino

Most followers agree that Shakur carried out poorly in his final two fights towards Harutyunyan and De Los Santos, exhibiting that he’s a boring fighter who lacks energy, is afraid to interact, and doesn’t possess the precise ingredient of expertise to grow to be a PPV attraction.

“These guys like him don’t understand different fighters have a say in issues. He paints an image – all people is a puppet however him, like I could make any battle I would like,” mentioned Bob Arum to FightsATW, speaking about Shakur Stevenson.

“Listening to friends and strangers on the web doesn’t serve Shakur as a result of these of us have their very own agendas and aren’t versed within the realities of big-time prizefighting,” Arum continued. “He has some good folks round him. However the ‘avenue’ individuals who discuss to him don’t perceive.”

Hinting at Departure 

Some consider that Shakur’s choice to start out hinting about leaving Prime Rank quickly after he moved as much as 135 in 2023 had a unfavourable impact, leading to them giving him the much less well-liked fighters Yoshino, De Los Santos, and Harutyunyan. We’ll by no means know for certain.

In hindsight, Shakur ought to have stored quiet and never brazenly hinted about wanting to depart Prime Rank when his contract was up. Had Shakur stored his mouth shut and praised Prime Rank, would he have gotten the fights he wished?

Lomachenko was open about his lack of curiosity in combating Shakur after watching his efficiency towards Edwin De Los Santos, and it was the identical with Tank Davis. Shakur damage his possibilities for giant fights by the way in which he fought De Los Santos, as he was booed by the followers, and the damage excuses he made after the battle sounded pathetic.