By Eric Bottjer
Shakur Stevenson knocked on the door of boxing greatness – pretty loudly – and ushered himself in. He’s renting right now. A couple more performances like Saturday night’s fight, against opponents the caliber of Teofimo Lopez, will make him an owner in that neighborhood.
The 2020s is a golden era of boxing greatness. Tyson Fury is an all-time great heavyweight. The man who beat him twice is arguably the greatest cruiserweight ever (can you imagine Oleksandr Usyk v. late 1980s Evander Holyfield?). Japan’s Naoya Inoue is perhaps the greatest bantamweight to ever walk the earth. Terence Crawford could compete with any welterweight in history. Canelo Alvarez, while on the downside, was a top-10 middleweight five years ago. As in top-10 ever.
Those five fighters you can – and should – put in any top 10 all-time boxer list (for their respective weight classes). Shakur’s not there yet. But if he stays focused and fights the best competition, he will be. Watching a 21st century-athlete utilize 20th century-boxing skills is a joy to witness. Watching a “boxer” stay in the pocket and out-punch the “puncher” is worth paying money to see (in my case, pay-per-view money – that weather was too cold for my Florida bones).
I bet on Lopez. Not because I thought he would win (I didn’t), but because the +240 odds for him to win didn’t reflect the talent gap. There was no talent gap, at least physically. Lopez has legitimate power and was certainly the hardest puncher that Shakur had faced – in his life. Lopez also has world-class speed.
I didn’t ignore the talent gap regarding boxing IQ. I knew Shakur’s was higher. I also knew Shakur had a decided advantage in his camp and corner (head trainer). But I couldn’t get past Lopez’s path to victory, which seemed pretty basic to me (if also very difficult to execute): you make Shakur do what he’s not comfortable doing. You force him to fight when he doesn’t want to. It’s a strategy a smart trainer considers for EVERY opponent.
I pictured Lopez forcing Shakur back and, more importantly, taking away his jab (not literally taking the punch itself away – taking away his advantage in that department).
Simple step one: move him back. Lopez tried this in the beginning. He tried this by jabbing. Each time, Shakur simply took one step back, watching his opponent each time, measuring the distance each time, measuring any differences in that distance, each time. It’s what great fighters do.
A great opponent would have seen the folly of simply continuing this failed strategy and re-calibrated. You still want to move your man back. You know when you step one foot forward with a jab, he moves one step back. So therefore, when you move one step forward, you KNOW he will step back. You don’t need to punch to accomplish this. You simply take the step, knowing, at least at first, you’re not in any danger because at that point, Shakur is not punching when you have moved forward previously. You know you can move him at least one step back, without punching, and without getting punched. And you can feint him as you do so, with your head, your shoulders, your arm movement. Hell, your eyes. This is what great fighters do.
Lopez is not a great fighter, just a great talent. He couldn’t get Shakur to exchange, to feel uncomfortable, to feel any danger, because he couldn’t even accomplish the simple task of moving his man when he wanted to move him. Shakur didn’t need plan B. Because Lopez didn’t have plan A.
I’m not going to get into the instructions Teo heard in the corner. The polite conclusion here is that Lopez needs a new trainer.Let’s go positive instead and celebrate Wali Moses, Shakur’s grandfather, who was what a high-caliber cornerman is: calm, knowledgeable and one who inspires confidence in his fighter.
Who’s next for Shakur. Probably Ryan Garcia, should Ryan do away with Mario Barrios later this month. But THE FIGHT for Shakur is one that isn’t possible at the moment.
Gervonta“Tank” Davis, like Shakur, knocked on the door of greatness, walked in (knocking out Ryan Garcia and Rolly Romero and beating Isaac Cruz), but evicted himself.
Tanks’ life is a wreck. Should he seek solace in the only venue he finds control (the ring), he’s still unbeaten, still, at 31, in his prime and his skill set is extraordinary. He also brings a real trainer to the dance and, like Shakur, he sells tickets.
Tank Davis v. Ryan Garcia and Shakur Stevenson v. Teofimo Lopez were pay-per-view worthy matches. Shakur v. Tank is a super-fight. And the money is there to make it. Here’s hoping someone helps Tank outside of the ring so that when he returns, he gets to show us the answer that everyone is now asking: can anyone beat Shakur Stevenson?
