After a brief spell, Shakur Stevenson is back. The world champion seems to have picked up from where he left off—the spat with André Berto. Following his win at the title defense against Artem Harutyunyan, he dazzled fans by going on a tweet spree, mostly fending off naysayers and critics who had one thing or another to say about his fighting style or sellability. Despite featuring in reportedly one of the most-watched boxing events of 2024, many slammed him for changing his game as he comes off as a bit ‘boring’.

So, one by one, Stevenson went after each of those skeptics. From former world champions Ishe Smith and Marcus Browne to Ma$e, back and forth took place across several fronts. With nearly a week now over since his match took place, however, there’s still one account that’s still open. It was the exchange with André Berto. The reigning world champion and the former world champion have been going at each other relentlessly. Berto, it seems, had told Stevenson not to lose his cool and react impulsively to online critics. Let’s check out what transpired in the current round.

Digital Duel: Shakur Stevenson vs. Andre Berto

Shakur Stevenson started with ‘constructive criticisms number 2’. So it means there must have been a ‘constructive criticism number 1’ as well. Before we review what the lightweight champion said initially, let’s see what he had to say this time. In this instance, Shakur Stevenson pulled out more than a decade-old report from Dan Rafael. It pertained to André Berto returning positive test results for ostarine ahead of a rematch with Victor Ortiz.

So Shakur Stevenson said, “If u wanted to be a OG in the sport, cheating is never the way to go. On top of being one of the a**es boxers to ever do it, u had to cheat to win; c’mon now.” It was time for a piercing taunt. The Newark Southpaw said that perhaps, on account of the banned substance, Berto might have missed a slot on the Hall of Fame roster. But he needn’t worry. Because very soon he would be coming up with a Hall of Fame, or rather, a Hall of Shame for tainted boxers. ‘The Beast’s name would be the first one for induction.

Now back to constructive criticism number 1. Pulling out a clip from Berto’s 2017 fight with ‘Showtime’ Shawn Porter that he lost via a ninth-round technical loss, Stevenson wrote, “Keep your right hand up; it’ll stop the hook from getting thru especially when u don’t got Shakur-like reflexes.”

Catching on to one of the sequences where Berto could be seen touching the back of his head, Stevenson asked ‘The Beast’ on what grounds he thought that Porter’s punches missed the mark. Maybe Berto was just overreacting, Shakur Stevenson jibed.

In a subsequent tweet, he teased that, if required, he could have taught André Berto how to do a proper shoulder roll. He could have highlighted the glaring mistakes he made in his last professional fight with Robert Guerrero. It is needless to say that Berto would have let all the ‘constructive criticism’ slide away easily.

Calculated Counters

André Berto mocked that Stevenson might still not have been born when the Ostarine controversy took place. He told the lightweight champion that he should forget about the case. He ‘was all cleared of no fines, no suspensions’. Shakur Stevenson responded that Berto should be taking such ‘constructive criticism’ lightly. He advised the former world champion to keep his ‘head and pick yo battles wisely’. A dig followed. Though Berto may not have done well in boxing, he hoped that the former champion was doing fine. It seemed that the money he received from the 2015 Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight appeared to have nosedived.

The banter continues. A few days ago, André Berto seemingly tried sorting out the matter by explaining his stance, sensing that probably Stevenson might have misinterpreted his message. But the way things are going, it seems it will be sometime till things finally cool down between Shakur Stevenson and’ The Beast’.

What’s your take on the whole Stevenson-Berto online spat? Lett us know in the comments below.