Shakur Stevenson Ditches Eddie Hearn For Lou Dibella

Shakur Stevenson (23-0, 11 KOs) has reportedly changed camp as the WBC lightweight champ has decided to shift from Matchroom Boxing just after one fight with the promoters.

Stevenson, who was on a contract for two matches, has decided to jump ship just after one match.

Stevenson faced Josh Padley on February 22 in Riyadh, where he managed to get a victory after he stopped the former electrician in the ninth round. A fight that saw Padley impress Stevenson’s former camp that Eddie Hearn had to offer him a contract just after a few weeks.

This might have been a financial decision, as it will be less expensive for Shakur Stevenson with DiBella as his promoter than it would have been if he stayed under contract with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing.

A deal with DiBella might see the boxer pocket between $4 million and $7 million from the fight with Zepeda.

It does not look good for Stevenson as this action has been met with different opinions from boxing fans; to some, it might appear as being ungrateful to Eddie Hearn. Since he joined Matchroom Boxing, his brand has grown due to the exposure he has received from the promoters, he has also been praised a lot by Eddie Hearn during press conferences and interviews, which also gave a positive impact to his brand growth, making it look like a betrayal.

On the other hand, it has not appeared to be such a great loss for Eddie Hearn as he took a chance that would have backfired if Stevenson lost to Josh Padley, leading to speculations that they chose a weaker opponent for him to avoid that from happening. It was already clear the relationship was a gamble as it was only a two-fight deal, so a loss or poor performance against Zepeda would just reduce interest in the boxer.