Hearn Denies Shakur Has Left Matchroom – ‘Fake News’

Eddie Hearn has denied suggestions that Shakur Stevenson has left Matchroom Boxing for his next fight. 

Shakur joined Matchroom after leaving Top Rank in a two-fight deal. He has faced many hurdles during his time with the promotional outfit. He was set to make his debut against Joe Cordina, a former world champion. However, the Cordina fight never went ahead, as Shakur suffered a hand injury. He subsequently underwent hand surgery with the intention of facing Zepeda next.

However, the Zepeda fight never happened after the Mexican suffered his own hand injury. Shakur subsequently faced Josh Padley, stopping him in the ninth round. The performance received criticism since it took Shakur nine rounds to defeat someone, whom most boxing fans had never heard of.

The WBC then ordered Shakur to face Zepeda as a fight had been agreed upon. However, Dan Rafael announced that his next fight would be with Louis de Bella. He alleged that Shakur would earn between $4 and $7 million, more than what he would have earned with Matchroom. 

“In reporting on July 12 card with Shakur-Zepeda, a source with knowledge of specifics told me Shakur split from Matchroom & his manager, James Prince, has hired Lou DiBella as his promoter for the event. He had a two-fight deal with Matchroom, did one, apparently, either side could opt out after the first. He was hardly in a long-term deal,” Rafael said 

Hearn has now hit back strongly, stating that such news is not true. He made it clear that Shakur would be with Matchroom for his next fight. However, he did not go on to state what would happen moving forward, as Shakur would be a free agent by then.

Hearn On Shakur

“You read Twitter. We have a two-fight deal with Shakur Stevenson and Turki Alalshikh. I was with Turki Alalshikh earlier for a couple of hours. That’s it. So, after the Zepeda fight, I don’t know what’s going to happen. Hopefully, we have the rest of his career with us, but I can’t say that categorically. So, yeah, I agreed to a two-fight deal with Shakur Stevenson, Turki Alalshikh, and that’s it. July 12th, we roll on in against Zepeda, and we’ll see what happens after that. Yes,” Hearn said 

It all depends on what Shakur wants to achieve moving forward. He has made it clear that he wants to secure the biggest fights, none bigger than a unification against Gervonta Davis. Davis is the WBA Lightweight Champion, who defended his belt with a controversial majority draw against Lamont Roach Jr. 

Davis escaped a knockdown being called in round nine, which would have given Roach a 10-8 round, making him the new champion on the scorecards. Tank is expected to rematch Roach immediately, after which a Shakur fight could play out. Shakur may decide to join PBC to secure that fight since they are known for making fights in-house. Alternatively, Shakur could go back to Top Rank to secure that fight with Davis. PBC and Top Rank are going to be working closer together amid the rise of the Saudis in boxing. Either way, Shakur has plenty to consider moving forward.