“What I will miss most about the sport…the haters. I will miss all the jealous haters.” Floyd Mayweather had a very close affinity for his critics. They motivated him. And his relationship with them never ended despite his retirement in 2017. As an active fighter, he was hated for many reasons. He fights only for money. He times fighters out. He never fights the tough fights. The criticisms were many. And some were particularly for his fighting style, sometimes labeled as boring, which focused more on winning the bouts on scorecards rather than going for knockouts. Those who know boxing know him for being a defensive genius rather than a knockout artist. And his clinical dismantling of a young Canelo Alvarez in 2013 is still often cited—especially now—as a blueprint for Terence Crawford, who, despite being the smaller man, many believe could follow in Mayweather’s footsteps and defeat Canelo this September in Las Vegas.

Recently, Mayweather’s name resurfaced in the context of defensive fighters and the hate they get. This time, it was about the criticism surrounding fighters like Shakur Stevenson and Devin Haney. As the Newark native will reportedly defend his WBC Lightweight title for the third time against William Zepeda on July 12, he recently sat down in an interview on The Breakfast Club Power to discuss his upcoming fight as well as the rebuke he has to face for not knocking people out.

As Shakur Stevenson opened up about his upcoming plans, including his eagerness to fight Gervonta Davis, the conversation shifted when the stand-up comedian Jess brought up a controversial comment made by rapper Ma$e last year after his Artem Harutyunyan bout. Referring to Stevenson’s unanimous decision win in July last year, Jess reminded Shakur Stevenson of a comment made by the rapper on his show: “Ma$e said, ‘I don’t want to see Shakur fight. I’m going to be honest. No disrespect to Newark, but I don’t want to see Shakur fight nobody. For him to be hanging out with Terence Crawford and Andre Ward. There’s absolutely no way that he’s fighting the way he’s fighting’.”

In response to the criticism, Shakur Stevenson didn’t hold back. “I can’t really take some of these guys too serious,” he told the hosts. “They make a living off trolling people… So even though I reacted to it before, I don’t feel the same way now.”

Hearing that, Charlamagne tha God chimed in, noting, “You know what’s crazy though? They’re not saying anything about you that they didn’t say about somebody like a Floyd [Mayweather] though. Like because people do not, for whatever reason, people don’t respect defensive fighters.”

Shakur Stevenson agreed, pointing to a deeper issue with the perception of viewers. “Facts! I think it’s a stigma on black fighters who outbox people, but like Lomachenko or a Bivol can go outbox the same people that you don’t never hear no boring things on them. So, I just hear it. But it is what it is,” explained the WBC lightweight champion.

This further prompted Charlamagne to ask the 23-0 boxer if the criticism ever made him want to go for a knockout, just to shut people up. Shakur Stevenson admitted, “Yeah, it kind of did.” However, the 27-year-old revealed that he tends to make mistakes when he tries too hard to get a knockout rather than remaining calm. Moreover, he added that his knockouts usually happen when he’s not forcing them. So now, “I just go in there not looking for it and if it comes, it comes.”

So, while fans may be hoping for a knockout when Stevenson faces William Zepeda next, the Newark native is sticking to what he knows works best. After his Matchroom Boxing deal ends with this fight, Eddie Hearn may have plans for Stevenson’s next move.

Win-win or walk away? What’s next for Shakur Stevenson?

Last month on Fight Hub TV, Eddie Hearn was asked if Lou DiBella would take over promoting Shakur Stevenson after his next fight with Zepeda. Hearn kept it simple: he mentioned he has a two-fight deal with His Excellency Turki Alalshikh, and one fight’s done—so there’s one more to go. After that? He’s not sure yet. While he said he’d love to keep working with Shakur Stevenson long-term, nothing’s set in stone.

Hearn also got real about how boxing deals work. If a promoter can’t bring the right fights to the table, or if the fighter doesn’t bring enough value back, the partnership might naturally end. He admitted that after the Zepeda fight, if he doesn’t have a strong plan for Shakur, they might just part ways. “It’s got to work for me as well as for Shakur,” he said. If not, no hard feelings!

Of course, the hot topic: Gervonta Davis came up too. Fans are eager for a Shakur vs. Tank showdown, and Hearn said he’d love to make that fight happen eventually. But first, Tank has other plans. Hearn also pointed, “Fighting Jake Paul isn’t he?” before noting that Tank is also set for a rematch with Lamont Roach Jr. So while the big fight could still happen, it’s not coming anytime soon.

That leaves one question for now: can Shakur Stevenson take care of business and beat William Zepeda, who is known for his knockouts? And who would he fight next if he manages to partner up with DiBella? What’s your take?