The public has lost all confidence in WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson following his last two fights. The Newark native is about to enter the ring against Joe Cordina on October 12th at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Ahead of his second title defense, he seems to have elicited help from his former training partner and friend Terence Crawford. 

The duo has been sparring since before Stevenson turned pro, especially in 2015 when he claimed Crawford gave him quite the beating. He went on to win a silver medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. They sparred again before Stevenson fought Jamel Herring to claim the WBO world title. Regardless, Stevenson’s rendezvous with ‘Bud,’ this time, seems to have fallen flat with fans. 

Terence Crawford goes unheard

Earlier today, talkSport editor Michael Benson shared a clip of Shakur Stevenson and Terence Crawford hitting the pads in the gym. He captioned the clip, “Shakur Stevenson on the pads with Terence Crawford in training today ahead of his fight vs Joe Cordina on Oct 12th…” Interestingly, Crawford defended Stevenson when a camera caught people leaving the arena during Stevenson’s last bout. “Those ain’t real supporters,” Crawford said, who was in the arena to watch the fight. This came amid heavy criticism towards Stevenson for his slow and uneventful fights. Stevenson had initially fought Edwin De Los Santos in November last year, where people claimed all Stevenson did was run around the ring avoiding engagement. 

During the Artem Harutyunyan fight in July, there seemed to have been a genuine effort from Stevenson to end the fight early but Harutyunyan proved elusive enough to take the fight to the distance. All this led to most people branding Stevenson a boring fighter, which came up quite often in the comments of Benson’s post. 

Shakur Stevenson: The Roadrunner

Shakur Stevenson needs a showstopper to win back the crowd. And this user thought training with Crawford was the best way to do that. The user wrote, “Iron Sharpens Iron🛠️🔥🔥. Crawford has always been aggressive, meaning his experience could really help Stevenson take the fight to his opponent. 

Another user decided to mock Stevenson for his past performances. The user sarcastically quipped, “[A]ll that training just to run around the ring once again💀.” If you really think about it, what Stevenson does is the purest form of boxing. However, because pro boxing is technically an entertainment sport, his boxing prowess doesn’t translate well with the public. 

The next user took a supportive stance, as he shared some words for the Newark native. The user commented, “Nice, Shakur gotta get that offense wayyy up.” Notably, there are always aggressive and defensive boxers, and finding the right balance between the two makes the perfect boxer, who can pull the crowd—Floyd Mayweather would be the best example here. 

Someone else questioned Shakur Stevenson about his choice to train with ‘Bud’ when he could have trained with Crawford’s trainer. “[W]hy Shakur not with bomac for aggression and counterpunching I don’t know,” the user wrote. It’s possible that Stevenson received some behind-the-scenes advice from Brian ‘Bomac’ Mcintyre during their training session.

Meanwhile, this user didn’t seem to care about Stevenson’s past performances while roping in Gervonta Davis. “Easy lick for tank stay unbeaten plz,” the user wrote. Interestingly, Stevenson is the one who has been calling out ‘Tank’ for a fight, but no deal has been reached yet. 

It appears that Stevenson’s past still haunts him, as fans refuse to support the 27-year-old boxer ahead of his upcoming fight. However, Stevenson has the opportunity to prove all his critics wrong by knocking out Cordina in October. Do you think a new and aggressive Stevenson will show for the bout?