No matter how Shakur Stevenson performs, the opinions never stop—and this time, it’s Mike Tyson weighing in. The 28-year-old Newark native stepped into the ring last Saturday against William Zepeda with a clear goal: to shake off the ‘runner’ label that’s followed him since his cautious outings against Edwin De Los Santos and Artem Harutyunyan. Though Stevenson stopped Josh Padley with a ninth-round knockout, it still wasn’t enough to silence the critics.

Stevenson showcased a more offensive style while maintaining his technical sharpness. Countering Zepeda’s high punch output, he landed crisp combinations and hooks, yet also found himself on the ropes. The aggressive approach came with risks, most notably in the third round, when Zepeda landed a hard right hand that briefly rocked Stevenson, forcing him to retreat momentarily. Still, ‘Sugar’ recovered and went on to secure a unanimous decision victory. Despite that, Tyson seems to have a big problem with the fight. 

“In my opinion, @ShakurStevenson looked the best he ever looked in his last fight,” Tyson wrote on X. “Those masterful combinations and head movements. He’s still young and doing that, and he looked superb. And everybody wants him to show people he can take a punch, but the art is [to] hit and not get hit.” Tyson further added that Stevenson’s cautious approach is what boxing is all about, before adding that Zepeda was the toughest opponent of Stevenson’s career and “he beat him with no problem.”

“In the middle of the ring, he was beautiful. I just don’t like when he gets on the ropes for too long,” Tyson wrote, emphasizing his biggest problem with the fight. While Tyson may have been satisfied with Stevenson’s performance, others weren’t, especially Ryan Garcia. “Shakur didn’t do any running tonight,” Garcia wrote on X. “But he also didn’t fight a guy with power tonight.” Regardless, Stevenson may just have decided to listen to Mike Tyson and get back to his previous approach to boxing. 

Shakur Stevenson claims he got hit too much — will change approach for future fights

After his fan-friendly performance against Zepeda, the 28-year-old admitted the tradeoff wasn’t worth it. And there’s merit to that. Stevenson, who mostly avoided taking severe damage in other fights, faced punishment against Zepeda. So, when asked whether he intends to continue fighting this way, he said, “Hell, no.”

“I wanna put on performances, but I also kinda took more punishment than usual… So, nah, I don’t plan on getting hit no more,” he added. Fans may have been entertained watching Stevenson dish out and take punishment, but Stevenson feels he strayed away from his path. “It was sometimes he would get stuff through… I’m a make sure I get on top of it.”

He also noted his comfort fighting off the ropes, despite warnings from mentors Andre Ward and Terence Crawford.

Shakur Stevenson did what he set out to prove—if he wanted, he could be an aggressive boxer, but it appears, at his core, he is not. While his return to old ways may not make everyone happy, Stevenson knows what’s best for himself. What did you make of the fight?