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“Where Was This During the Fight?”: Fans Disappointed at Shakur Stevenson After Watching Previous Sparring Video

Published 11/21/2023, 9:36 PM EST

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A section of the boxing world that included Ryan Garcia thought that Shakur Stevenson‘s latest fight with Edwin De Los Santos was boring. At this, although the CEO of Top Rank, Bob Arum claimed Shakur fought with injuries, he also publicly admitted that Stevenson’s performance against Santos was a “stinker.”

On that note, if one had to look at the stats of Stevenson’s previous fights, one would realize that although Shakur maintained his accuracy against Santos, he threw a very small amount of punches on November 16th. In this connection, as a sparring video [recorded weeks before the Santos fight] of Shakur came out, several fans were shocked to notice how differently he had approached the sparring.

Is Shakur Stevenson deliberately leaking his sparring footage to compensate for the “stinker” against Edwin Santos?

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In the clip that has now gone viral, Shakur is seen sparring with WBO Global Super Lightweight title holder Liam Paro. While Shakur moved around for most of the fight against Santos, in the sparring with Paro, he is quite active. In fact, Stevenson is seen closing in on the distance and attacking with a 1-2. As a result, a fan could not help but ask, “Where was this during the fight?

In a similar tone, one pointed out that Stevenson was more confident with “headgear and 16 oz gloves on.”

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Meanwhile, one called him the Undisputed sparring champion of the world.

However, one claimed Stevenson was leaking his sparring footage to only feel better about himself.

But, one reminding everyone of Shakur’s injury, stated he won with one hand.

In this connection, as boxing fans question Shakur’s abilities, to understand the disappointment, it is better if one saw Shakur vs. Oscar Valdez in contrast with the Santos fight.

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Valdez and Santos: Has Shakur’s boxing declined?

Going by the CompuBox punch stats, for the 12 rounds he fought against Santos, Shakur only threw a total of 209 punches. What is so shocking about this number? Well, it is the fact that when Stevenson faced then-WBC-Super-Featherweight-champion, Oscar Valdez, he threw a total of 590 punches inside the ring!

via Getty

In addition, while Shakur landed only 16 punches on Santos’ body, he hit Valdez, a technically sound fighter with 61 body shots! On the other hand, when he threw 158 power punches on Oscar, the number came down to 19 against Santos! Well, with that said, one can argue that Shakur has not been the same fighter he was when he fought Valdez. Anyway, what do you think? What is your reaction to the sparring clip? Let us know in the comments.

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Watch This Story – Five Potential Opponents for Shakur Stevenson after Edwin De Los Santos Fight

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Written by:

Samrat Sardar

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I feel combat sports is a representation of life inside a cage or ring. There is fear, struggle, and the will to be free. It has a poetic quality.
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Arijit Saha