Shakur Stevenson’s talent is a curse? Malignaggi suggests that the charge will be needed to land fight William Zepeda and overcome lightly avoid

Paulie Malignaggi says Shakur Stevenson may need to take a pay cut by offering a portion of his purse to attract WBC’s temporary light champion William Zepeda. He feels that Shakur (23-0, 11 ko) is avoided by the best men at 135 because he is so good.

Offering a fracture

To get those fighters like Zepeda (33-0, 27 kos) to fight, he will need to give up some of his purse. Malignaggi believes that Shakur’s victory over Zepeda will “force” the more fighting against Gervonta Davis to take place.

More likely, it will work the opposite. A spectacular Stevenson victory over Zepeda will close the door forever for a battle against Tank Davis, especially if Shakur runs all night against the Mexican slug.

He will have to move around the whole fighting circle because if he stands and fights Zepeda, he will be chewed. A Tevin farmer absorbed a lot of punishment in the first six rounds of his recent battle against Zepeda, and the only reason not stopped is that he had an excellent jaw.

Shakur’s promoter Eddie Hearn has the money to invest in if he is willing to use some of his company to get Zepeda. For a popular fighter like Zepeda, it will be expensive. All you need to do is offer Zepeda $ 5 millionHe will agree and then hope that Shakur will do his part without being boiled out of the location. Hearn in Stingy and Tyn-fisted will lead to Stevenson existing in the shadows as long as it stays with a corresponding room.

If it is boiled by the fans as it was against Edwin de Los Santos and Jeremiah Nakathilia, he can forget about a tank.

Saudi money gone

The money that Shakur believed would no longer be there from the Saudis there after his last battle against Josh Padley on February 22nd in Riyadh. Some fans believe that the Saudis had quit on Stevenson after that abusive performance against the part-time boxer Padley, who had trouble against him in a very boring fight.

“It’s kind of disappointment with the way Shakur has done in this business. I feel he is an excellent fighter,” Paulie Malignaggi told FighthypeTalk about how Shakur Stevenson has not been able to get the fighting he has wanted. “He is probably the best light in the world.”

Shakur has not beaten anyone lightly for him to receive the credit that Malignaggi is slathering on. The Battle of Stevenson against Edwin de Los Santos should have been a draw or victory for De Los Santos. The judges gave him to Shakur, but many fans think that is because of his popularity. Wasn’t supposed to lose.

Apart from that victory, Shakur’s victories have come against low -level fighters: Josh Padley (the electrician), Artem Harutyunyan an active, who came off loss, and Shuichiro Yoshino, is slightly known.

I am the black sheep of boxing i love 😈

– Shakur Stevenson (@Shakurstevenson) April 14, 2025

A avoidance factor

“There may be a situation where it may need to take a small amount of pay cut to get that big fight and try to establish itself with its performance,” said Malignaggi. “It’s sucking, I know. Only in boxing, you can be so good so that you are avoided. No other sports do so.”

That fight is unlikely to happen unless Shakur dominates most of his purse to make it worthwhile for William Zepeda to fight. Obviously, Golden Boy and Zepeda saw Shakur’s battle against De Los Santos, and they will know from watching that fight that winning a decision against it will be impossible.

If the judges give Shakur rounds for light punching, hold and run, Zepeda will not get a shot while winning. For Zepeda to have a chance, the fighting on a neutral territory in Mexico would have to be staged.

“When you’re so good, they had to go through to be the best, or they can’t be the best. When boxing, you can be so good that you are sometimes avoided if you’re not in the right position, and everyone plays a ball without you,” said Malignaggi.

The problem is that Shakur has not shown that he is “so good” for the top -grade fighters at 135 wanting to fight. What he has shown is that he is a runner, a boring runner, and is regularly boiled when facing resistance with any type of pop punching them. It is not popular and many light years away from realizing PPV status.

Essentially, he is known for his social media activity on the current Champion of X. Shakur, Eddie Hearn, has failed to transform him into a star and has not yet invested the dough to get the fighting he needs to become a home name by fighting against William Zepeda and Gervonta Davis.

Stevenson’s Pedig

“It’s crazy for me because I think Shakur is the premium light in the world in a light department that has some good fighters,” said Malignaggi. “I don’t know what the answer is. Perhaps take a little pay break to try to fight Zepeda and then dominate Zepeda. That will force the more fighting that way because then you will have dominated a man like Zepeda.

“I don’t know anymore. It’s such a stupid business. There’s a crazy amount of money in it. It moves in strange ways. People play favorites. There’s a lot of politics as with anything if there’s a lot of money, but it’s getting so frustrating,” said Malignaggi.

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