Will Shakur Stevenson retire undefeated?

No he maybe skillful and elusive but he doesn't have the heart to win tough fights.

 

Not unless he cherrypicks, Shakurs low workrate against power punchers will see him to his first loss. Loma would've beaten him. Monsters like Biyarslanov are coming up, Kid Austin, Russell, Mason, Andy Cruz, Keyshawn, Tank will all take several rounds off him and 1 of them will 100% beat him imo. I've seen his sparring with Hitchins, Shakur would be in danger of getting outboxed for the first time. Then he'll probably go to welterweight within 5 years, he's definitely catching an L the talent pool will start collecting up there soon with all these guys moving up

 

He already did once.

 

I think it wouldn't be impossible, Stevenson is a master of the defensive art. I would definitely like to see him against Gervonta Davis and Keyshawn Davis after he defeats Zepeda.

 

With the sort of opponents he fights, it shouldn't be difficult

 

Absolutely could matchmake his way to an undefeated record -- he's damn good. I don't really like watching him that much, but I respect his ability.

 

I don't see anybody currently that would beat Shakur. I'm personally of the conviction that Shakur is the most skilled fighter in boxing right now. I don't think anybody is more technical or more versatile than Shakur is. Everything he does is done with purpose, he's always in range to capitalise and he has a huge bag of tricks to get you to throw and miss. Just look at how excellent he is at hand-fighting, you'll barely ever see Shakur give away dominant hand positioning and he'll use his hand-fighting both offensively and defensively to pull his opponent's arms out the way but also to block punch lanes so that he can control the pace of the fight. When Shakur hand-fights, he not only controls how much his opponents throw but also which punches they throw. Look at how skilled Shakur is on the inside too. How he applies physical pressure with frames, chicken-wings, and under/overhooks to control his opponents on the inside yet still stays defensively responsible and reactive even without a clear line of sight. He even uses sticky punches so that he can maintain the flow of offence and mixes his frames, collar ties, and posture breaks in with his punches. Shakur also applies proper head positioning and keeps a solid stance that allows him to keep his balance and apply physical pressure. His defence is so good that he can stand right in front of world level fighters and not get hit based mostly off of tactile sensation. That is how good he is. People label Shakur as a runner but when he stays in the pocket and sits on his opponent's chest, he is (imo) the best and most versatile inside fighter in the sport today.

As well, Shakur possesses the best southpaw jab in the sport, varying it between a solid, snappy jab, a probe, a stiff-arm, a stab jab, he feints the jab, he varies the speed and power of his jab, and he can throw the jab going backwards, forwards, and hold his feet when he jabs too. His jab is top notch and is thrown with proper technique unlike a certain guy called Devin. And then his footwork is sooooo good too. He sometimes breaks fundamentals by stepping forward with his back-foot first but he uses it so effectively to bait out counters, to maintain a defensive posture even on the front-foot so he has a better field of vision, and so he can better judge distance. He can fight out of both inside and outside foot positioning against orthodox fighters and even has specific counters and attacks built around giving up dominant foot postioning to orthodox opponents. He can pivots off of the force of his punches to get out of range, which is a very advanced technique to know how to use but also to know when and how to use it correctly. He feints with his feet, he moves laterally and in circular motions so he can stay in range, and he'll use L-steps to control range as well.

Oh yeah, and he doesn't get hit. Shakur's defence is immaculate and very intricate. He has loads and loads of defensive tools that he is constantly using to make his opponents miss, fall short, or not land clean. He uses hand parries, elbow lifts, long guard traffic, and foot positioning to smother most of his opponent's straight shots from long range. In mid range, Shakur will slip punches, roll with punches, weave under punches, and use his shoulders, elbows, and forearms to block punches or even moves in closer to smother the work of his opponents. Even the way he evades body-shots by changing posture without getting himself out of range or stance is impressive. Shakur can fight out of the high guard, he can fight out of the Philly shell, and he can fight out of the long guard, he has a whole host of different defensive looks that he can give and each is still developed and complicated with its own nuances.

And there is of course his offensive variety. Shakur Stevenson is a dedicated body puncher, more so than most fighters I see nowadays (admittedly, he does stray low fairly often), his punch variety to head and body is very good and he maintains his focus and composure whether under-fire or whether he has his man hurt. He's also a pretty underrated combination puncher too, he shifts his weight properly from one leg to the other, maintains his balance when throwing combinations, and likes to finish his combination to the body, even doubles up on the same hand to change rhythm mid-combination and to make himself more unpredictable. Shakur can throw punches on the move with proper technique and not be out of position, off-balance, and is still able to put his weight behind punches. And Shakur is, of course, an elite counterpuncher, who uses step-back counters, pull counters, catch and shoot counters, check hooks, counters in combination, and even uses body-shot counters frequently. He sets up his counters with his feint game, by baiting with his pawing lead hand, by using distance illusion via the aforementioned back-foot first technique, and by getting his head into punching range or by giving up dominant lead foot positioning.

Shakur Stevenson is an incredibly skilled and very talented fighter who can control the flow of the fight as good as anybody I've ever seen and does an excellent job of imposing his will on his opponents. Shakur is cat-like quick, hyper-reactive, silky smooth, and, I believe, a complete fighter both offensively and defensively. I can understand not enjoying his fights, but you should still appreciate the man's craft.

 

Um, no.

 

Despite the recent circumstances, I think Keyshawn would beat Shakur. He can box almost as good and he has power, trains with Crawford all the time. Hitchins has a height and reach advantage. Biyarslanov is looking like a southpaw Beterbiev, I think he'd give Shakur all sorts of problems