Bob Arum: Shakur Stevenson is 'second coming' of Floyd Mayweather

Joe HewlettJoe Hewlett23 March 2020
Arum

Arum

Shakur Stevenson is yet to make one defence of his WBO featherweight title but it hasn’t stopped promoter Bob Arum from singing his praises.

The Top Rank CEO believes the 13-0 star from Philly is moulding into the next Floyd Mayweather… no pressure there then. 

The 22-year-old was expected to defend his world title last weekend against Miguel Marriaga at Madison Square Garden, but the fight - alongside Michael Conlan’s St. Patrick’s Day fight - got postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Steveson, managed by former Pound for Pound king Andre Ward, was set to go ahead with his fight scheduled to go on behind closed doors, but due to testing kits unavailable, the event got cancelled just 24 hours before fight night.
Speaking about the ability of Stevenson, Arum told ESPN.com: “He’s the second coming of Floyd Mayweather. “Shakur is tremendously confident in his abilities, just like Floyd. He is a super defensive fighter, just like Floyd. And he is like a genius in the ring, the way Floyd was.”

Stevenson needs to prove his worth

There’s a lot of hype about the young American and from previous performances, he has the potential to reach superstardom. Let’s get one thing straight, he’s no Floyd, though.
When Mayweather was his age, he was knocking out people for fun and had made two successful defences of his IBF featherweight strap. It included wins over Genaro Hernandez and Angel Manfredy. 
Stevenson is world champion but he has much to do before we start comparing him to legends of the sport. The key question is, how will he respond when he gets hit on the button? Will he have the heart of a champion or quit?
He was linked with a summer showdown against Josh Warrington although any chance of that is dead in the water since Eddie Hearn confirmed Xu Can as Warrington’s next opponent.

The Chinese star was elevated to WBA ‘Super’ champion, meaning their fight is now a unification at 126-lbs although their blockbuster bout is yet to have a date due to COVID-19.

Speaking about the prospect of Stevenson coming to fight in England in February, Warrington exclusively told Boxing365: "He seems like quite an emotional guy, he screams and shouts so I think he would be probably get a little worked up but I don't know, he's never been in that type of scenario before so you don't know how you're going to react to it until you're put into it so we'll see won't we."