Floyd Mayweather Hopeful of Signing Shakur Stevenson
Come July 7, WBC lightweight champion “Fearless” Shakur Stevenson (21-0, 10 KO’s) will dance with Armenian boxer Artem Harutyunyan. The duel will serve as Stevenson’s first title defense and his final fight under his current Top Tank contract. Once this obligation has been satisfied, Stevenson wants to shop around for the best possible contract. Equally as public, Hall of Fame fighter turned promoter Floyd “Money” Mayweather has declared his intention to try to recruit Fearless into the fold.
Mayweather laid out his mind state on the popular sports podcast It Is What It Is:
“[Stevenson] wants to fight the best out there, he’s asking can he fight the best. I believe his contract is coming to an end. So hopefully we can come together and I can take him to that next level and give him the fights that he needs and wants.”
THE SKY IS THE LIMIT
The pairing of Mayweather and Stevenson would certainly be an engrossing new wrinkle in the 135-pound storyline. As Money Mayweather alluded to, Stevenson has expressed interest in staging matches with Vasily Lomachenko, WBA 135-pound champion Abdul “Tank” Wahid, Gary Antuanne Russell and two-division champion Devin Haney. Regardless of this wishlist, Fearless has thus far been fruitless in securing any of these showdowns.
With his influence in the sport, it would be noteworthy to see if forging a legal contractual alliance with Mayweather Promotions could land him some of those duels. Two fighters that immediately become a very realistic possibility are Tank and Gary Antuanne Russell. This is because they are both housed within the Premier Boxing Champions stable, which is closely affiliated with Mayweather Promotions.
First however, Stevenson must overcome the challenge of Artem Harutyunyan and shine in style. So, let’s see how their July 7 dustup plays out before we assign any fantasy match-ups or promotional deals for Stevenson.
