So, it turns out Shakur Stevenson will make a whole lot of cash for his upcoming bout against Joe Cordina. The WBC lightweight champion will feature against Cordina in the co-main event on the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol card on October 12th at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. And guess what? Boxing insider and veteran matchmaker Rick Glaser ain’t happy about it.

Reports indicate that the Newark native will earn a guaranteed purse of $5 million for the fight, following his recent signing with Matchroom Boxing. This development raises eyebrows, especially considering that not long ago, Top Rank, his old promoter, was going to pay Shakur $3 million per fight if he agreed to their extended contract.

The Stevenson vs. Cordina bout is also elevated to a pay-per-view event on DAZN, while the main event of Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol is set to air live on ESPN+ at no additional cost to old subscribers. Regardless, the update about Stevenson making five big ones didn’t quite sit well with people in the boxing community. Fans were not happy with the deal, and now, Glaser has voiced his opinion on the matter too. He turned to X, suggesting whoever made that deal needed someone else to do the talking for them.

Glaser wrote, “Great for #Shakur, but anyone that would pay Shakur 5 million to fight a Joe Cordina type should let someone else negotiate for them. F**king ridiculous!” It’s worth mentioning that Stevenson is coming off two lackluster performances, which has now earned Stevenson the reputation of being a boring fighter.

The WBC lightweight champion earned his title after a slow and uneventful 12-rounds against Edwin De Los Santos in November last year. This fight saw Stevenson become the center of quite the backlash. While he had promised to put on an exciting performance in his next bout, things didn’t really change. 

Despite trying to score a knockdown, Artem Harutyunyan proved to be skilled enough to avoid any of Stevenson’s knockdown blows. Meaning, even this fight was chalked up to the pile of boring fights from Stevenson. Since he is getting the five big ones for Cordina, an unimpressive performance here could prove fatal for his future. 

Regardless, His Excellency Turki Alalshikh seems to have big plans for Shakur Stevenson in the future, which fans would love to see.

What’s next for Shakur Stevenson? 

After officially announcing the Stevenson vs. Cordina fight on August 21st, the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority told ESPN, “[Stevenson’s] talented and young and if he’s smart, we will do a lot of things with him. There’s a big fight with him in the future.” His Excellency was referring to the William Zepeda fight. 

Since defeating Harutyunyan earlier this year, Stevenson had ramped up his challenges to the Mexican undefeated boxer. While it was proving difficult to make, now that Stevenson has sided with the Saudi Royal, the latter’s partnership with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions could make the fight a reality early next year.

It appears after giving two slow fights, people including Rick Glaser aren’t happy about Shakur Stevenson getting a massive $5 million deal to fight Joe Cordina. Now, either Stevenson can set the ring on fire with his performance, or fans are in for a Stevenson-regular. Only fight night will reveal which one proves true. Until then, let us know what you think about Stevenson’s purse.