I like Shakur and think he has tremendous potential. But I feel that he still hasn't fought a real top guy. I would be afraid for him in a fight with Gervonta Davis right now. Colbert-Stevenson? I don't know. I'd probably lean toward Stevenson on a close decision. Not that Stevenson has done anything to be rated higher. But with his raw talent, I think he might beat some guys that he might not look ready for.
Colbert hasnt stepped up yet either. In his biggest fight against corrales he struggled. this weekend his opponent was regional level at best, with a completely padded record.
Arboleda did beat Jayson Velez in his last fight so hardly a total scrub. I remember watching it too and thinking he had an impressive workrate and seemed to be able to take a good few clean punches quite well. He'll be an entertaining step up guy like Gabe Rosado from what I've seen.
As far as comp level he’s just a step above Stevenson but they both have shown skills to become elite.. I’m more concerned about how long all these prospects/new breed fighters are gonna fight around each other instead fighting each other.. One thing I respect about the UK fight culture is they match they prospects early on to see who’s actually better at that moment vs who projects to be better.. If this was the UK we probably would have already had Ortiz vs Ennis, Haney vs Lopez or even these guys against each other..
i thought he got a gift against velez, i dont think arboleda will reach the heights of rosado, his career will pan out more similarly to jorge cota.
3 decent performance, he handily beat Austin Dulay, along with solid showings against Corrales and Arboleda. The last two are kind comparable in terms of level of competition with Pitufo, Toka and Joet. Regardless, I think he's basing it on the eye test. Colbert appears to be teak tough he went to war with Arboleda, who while fragile, hits like a hammer, and Corrales is far more awkward than anyone Shakur has faced to date. Anyway, just based on his ability to adjust from round to round, sometimes mid round, and the wit which he deals with his opponents adjustments, I agree with @Forza I think Colbert is far more dynamic and brings far more to the table than anyone Stevenson has faced to date. Shakur's punches wouldn't phase him in the least, and he could literally experiment in there on him.
Shakur is more consistent than Colbert and makes far less mistakes. He’s refined. Colbert is flashy and talented but he has lulls and can be hit. Shakur is very sound defensively.
Flashy and clearly has a future but I don't think he'd beat Stevenson who's far better technically and just more complete. He looked very ordinary vs Corrales, doesn't seem as effective on the front foot and ran out of ideas. He needs to work on his counter punching, what little of it he does, doesn't look great. He also telegraphs his jab at times with the lead foot movement just before throwing it and with him throwing his jab from the waist isn't exactly the tell you want as it will be easy for your opponent to see the tell. That's probably why he couldn't hit Corrales with his jab throughout the fight.
Absent the flash, I think that his skill level is on par with Shakur's. I know he takes a great shot, and has excellent power and speed. Actually I think he has more pop than Shakur and better hand speed. Like a poster stated, Shakur's consistency could be his hole card but his chin might betray him. It is a fight that I would love to see and would consider it a pick em fight. I wouldn't be surprised whoever won. Dude needs to lose that clowning doe.
oh dear. This didn't age well. Can't see how you could have ever have had this opinion anyway. Shakur is excellent, Colbert is terrible lol.
People get it wrong sometimes, even those who know something about boxing, luckily I wasn't one of them this time. I've been saying this for a while Shakur is a future top P4P fighter, that is if he doesn't get killed before he makes it to that level. Guys like Colbert we see all the time, flashy but the subtle skills are missing while Stevenson has them in abundance.