It must have hurt Shakur Stevenson to stomach that his hometown crowd booed his performance. At the Prudential Center, Newark, Stevenson’s WBC lightweight title defense against Artem Harutyunyan was a tactical masterclass. But most fans turned up at the stadium expecting an all-out brawl. When they started to sense they wouldn’t get one, some fans started to leave the arena by the championship rounds. Most importantly, this comes right after the snooze fest against Edwin De Los Santos. Therefore, there was a chip on Shakur’s shoulder to deliver an electrifying performance, but it wasn’t meant to be. Right after the fight, Stevenson shifted the blame onto his opponent in the in-ring interview. “He was just trying to make sure he survived. I would’ve wanted him to try a little harder so it could be a more fun fight.”

Nonetheless, boring or not, his defensively sound performances have drawn Floyd Mayweather comparisons from certain quarters. Recently, inspired by a Floyd masterclass against a worthy opponent, Stevenson felt that a fight against the former unified lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. would make him come into his element. But, the former lightweight champion wasn’t going to take any slander lying down and was quick to burst his bubble.

Hit him where it hurts the most!

It all started with a boxing fan who wasn’t ready to accept the Floyd comparisons that Stevenson was getting. Picking Mayweather’s boxing clinic against Canelo Alvarez in 2013, the fan stated on X that until the two-division champion can replicate that mastery of the offensive, he shouldn’t be compared to Mayweather.

Responding to the fan tweet, Stevenson replied, “Give me a Kambosas I got yall” But pride is everything in boxing and he wasn’t going to let that cheeky response slide. Old wounds were opened as his lackluster performance in his hometown in his last fight was brought up to the fore.

“Shut your mouth little squirt! An embarrassment in your own town, had people leaving, you can’t fck with my numbers kid, ever. Bob had to put toothpicks in the eyes to stay awake. Bruv all talk,” Kambosos Jr. tweeted.

On top of that, Kambosos also took a dig at the fact that Stevenson was a free agent. “I got Ls to Dev & Loma but I bet you would too, to bad u won’t get em free agent,” he joked.

Safe to say, Kambosos is not someone to be trifled with inside or outside the ring. The Australian boxer has an impressive record who held onto the WBA, IBF, and WBO lightweight from 2021-22 and eventually lost them to the current WBC super-lightweight champion Devin Haney.

Meanwhile, even though Shakur Stevenson is a free agent, a lot of big promoters are queuing up to get his signature on the bottom line. While Stevenson is canvassing his options carefully, Oscar De La Hoya has waxed lyrical on him.

Shakur Stevenson needs a good dancing partner! 

‘The Golden Boy’ feels that the right opponent will unlock Shakur’s true potential. Previously signed to Top Rank, Stevenson didn’t have the opportunity to get into the ring with heavy hitters like Vasiliy Lomachenko, George Kambosos Jr, and Gervonta Davis. However, if signed to Golden Boy Promotions, De La Hoya plans to put worthy fighters in his stable against him.

“When I promoted Mayweather for fifteen fights, I had every single opponent for him. All the opponents that Golden Boy had, we fed him to Mayweather. And Mayweather became Mayweather. So, I think Shakur is in a similar situation. If we have the right opponent, we can build another Mayweather,” De La Hoya stated.

Meanwhile, Stevenson has turned down a five-fight, $15 million deal offer from Top Rank. Bob Arum’s rivals have accused him of under-promoting him and therefore damaging his reputation in the fight business.

In search of greener pastures, which promotional company will Shakur Stevenson bet his house on? Let us know in the comment section below.