Commentator Tim Bradley says Shakur Stevenson should ignore the criticism he receives for being a defensive, pure boxer that avoids getting hit in his fights. Bradley states that Shakur (23-0, 11 KOs) should continue to fight the way he does, show “greatness,” and pick up your “check” to go home.
(Credit: Melanie Pizano/Matchroom)
Tim wants Shakur to continue with the archaic, fossilised style that he uses from a bygone era and hopes the younger fans that prefer to be entertained will enjoy his outdated style. It sounds like a dumb idea, but what choice does Stevenson have?
Modern Demands
Tim points out that fans in the past used to call Floyd Mayweather Jr “boring,” and he still made a fortune with his safety-first fighting style. However, Bradley is leaving out that Mayweather gained fame in the early days of the Internet, before MMA took off, and when boxing fans had fewer entertainment options than now. If Floyd came around now, he wouldn’t be must-watch TV for U.S fans and wouldn’t be a PPV attraction. He would be forced to attract interest in his fights by trash-talking.
“Go into that ring and handle your business. Just keep winning. They said the same thing about Floyd Mayweather years ago. ‘He was boring.’ You can’t buy into that. Keep boxing the way you’re boxing. Keep using your skills. It doesn’t matter what the fans say. It doesn’t matter what these casuals are saying,” said Tim Bradley to Fighthype, coming to the defense of Shakur Stevenson, enabling him to keep fighting in his boring style.
Bradley wants Shakur to keep fighting the way he does, not to change, and eventually he’ll become a star. However, it hasn’t happened, and he’s lagging behind younger, more entertaining fighters coming up. Unfortunately, has no choice. He has no punching power, and it would break him if he attempted to fight in an exciting style.
Shakur would get knocked out repeatedly. We saw how he was getting hit a lot in his last fight against the weak British domestic level fighter, Josh Padley, on February 22nd. If Stevenson stood in the pocket against a fighter with power, like Jadier Herrera, he’d have been destroyed. Hence, that’s obviously why the Cuban wasn’t selected as his opponent. Shakur needed to entertain on that card, and he wouldn’t be able to do that against a fighter that could punch.
Attention Spans
“As long as you’re going home with a check and a big W, and you keep showing your greatness every time you’re inside that ring, keep doing you. If I could go back and box like Shakur Stevenson, I would go back and box like him,” said Bradley.
“With Shakur Stevenson, the attention span [for fans] is no longer there for boxing [for defensive, safety-first fighters in this era]. In MMA, you hit a guy, and they fall. They either get knocked out or choked out. So, I think that has a lot to do with it. The younger generation now have UFC. Back then [in the past], they didn’t have UFC. Now, the technology [Internet & cable television] and social media. A lot of people have short attention spans. They want knockouts,” said Bradley.
Last Updated on 03/25/2025
