Shakur Stevenson is the best boxer in the world

Discussion in 'World Boxing Forum' started by Joeywill, Jul 13, 2025 at 3:05 PM.


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  1. Ted Spoon

    Ted Spoon Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Shakur is super poised and accurate, but he put in performance we know he can. Zepeda is rather basic. Feels like Shakur is ticking over, and that's a compliment. Still, to say he's the most talented right now is baseless. You mean to say he seems to fit the mold of what you consider skillful, but skill is a funny word. Effective is better. Is Shakur more effective than Bam Rodriguez or Junto Nakatani? Those two, along with Inoue, routinely get rid of their guys at the top level. And it's not just power, it's mindset. It's finding the right punches. It's about knowing how - and being able - to eliminate the threat.

    When Inoue got floored again there was a lot of finger-pointing. The real scoop was that, after getting floored, he continued with his first objective, took the danger punch away, and got the stoppage. He didn't, as many would, decide to play it safe and concentrate of just winning. It took a special kind of talent to do what he did - Algieri nicely emphasised this point.

    Bivol eclipsing Beterbiev in that rematch? It's not like we're short on examples.

    Shakur is quality but he needs either a truly good opponent or to thrive when at a clear disadvantage to merit consideration for being the best.

    I actually think he should continue with the outlandish claims ala Ray Robinson because it'll attract more attention. Don't know your angle? Just lean into the bad guy.
     
    Last edited: Jul 14, 2025 at 5:36 AM
    Ted Spoon, Jul 14, 2025 at 5:25 AM
    Ted Spoon, Jul 14, 2025 at 5:25 AM
    #46
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  2. Pimp C

    Pimp C Too Much Motion Full Member

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    Pimp C, Jul 14, 2025 at 5:41 AM
    Pimp C, Jul 14, 2025 at 5:41 AM
    #47
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  3. Pimp C

    Pimp C Too Much Motion Full Member

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    One of the best
     
    Pimp C, Jul 14, 2025 at 5:53 AM
    Pimp C, Jul 14, 2025 at 5:53 AM
    #48
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  4. Dorrian_Grey

    Dorrian_Grey It came to me in a dream Full Member

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    I do think Shakur is the best boxer in the world currently and made a lengthy post breaking down why I think so. There are plenty of better athletes out there, guys that punch harder, have faster hands, have better chins, stuff like that, but in terms of boxing and boxing only? Shakur is the best. When you strip away stuff like athletic traits, H2H hypotheticals, and resume, what you're left with is the skill and versatility a fighter shows in the ring, irrespective of who they're fighting. And I quite firmly believe that there is no-one as skilled as Shakur when it comes to boxing, the level of his craft and the variety he has is second to none.
     
    Dorrian_Grey, Jul 14, 2025 at 6:33 AM
    Dorrian_Grey, Jul 14, 2025 at 6:33 AM
    #49
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  5. AdamT

    AdamT Boxing Addict banned Full Member

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    Agreed
    I say most skilled, but more to fighting than just skills, so I reserve judgement if he is a better fighter than everyone until I see him in sterner tests. But I see Floyd like skills and that is more skilled than all these guys. Although inoue is very, very skilled himself, just not as defensive sound

    People are going to hate him, but they might hate him more if he continues to showcase this ability. He didn't run the other night and did just fine imo
     
    AdamT, Jul 14, 2025 at 6:38 AM
    AdamT, Jul 14, 2025 at 6:38 AM
    #50
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  6. Serge

    Serge Ginger Dracula Staff Member

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    And he's proven it by beating the mighty Jamal Herring who lost to Denis Shafikov via stoppage, Ladarius Miller, Jamaine Ortiz, Jackson Jon Ortiz

    A much smaller Oscar Valdez who has literally either lost or gone life and death in at least 8 or 9 of his fights, including being dropped or hurt in almost all of them


    Here he is going life and death vs Marriaga in a fight of the year contender which was razor-close despite the criminally wide judge's cards. But when Loma casually toyed with Marriaga and made him quit without losing a single second of a single round he was a ''bum''

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    And Valdez was coming off a scandalous robbery win in his previous fight where he failed a PED test for that fight


    William Zepeda who went life and death vs an old past prime Farmer and was dropped by him in their first fight and hurt and arguably dropped by him in their rematch even though Famer has only stopped 8 of his 43 opponents :lol:

    And Robson Conceicao who he missed weight against by 1.5lbs and didn't even attempt to sweat it off and punched in the testicles all night

    De Los Santos whose power he was terrified of, so much so he stunk out the joint so bad his own home fans booed him and were leaving in their droves before the fight had even finished

    All of whom he was either bigger than or roughly the same size and all in his home country

    To be fair, he has travelled once, when he fought over in Saudi and it took him 9 rounds to get a domestic level part-time boxer/part-time electrician out of there who had no camp, was at work when he got the call, and took the fight on 4 days notice
     
    Serge, Jul 14, 2025 at 6:48 AM
    Serge, Jul 14, 2025 at 6:48 AM
    #51
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  7. Joeywill

    Joeywill Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Bivol resume was like this if not worse until he fought Canelo

    When Tank stops ducking Shakur then Shakur will get his opportunity to show everyone how good he is
     
    Joeywill, Jul 14, 2025 at 7:00 AM
    Joeywill, Jul 14, 2025 at 7:00 AM
    #52
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  8. Serge

    Serge Ginger Dracula Staff Member

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    Bivol has beaten 2 top 5 guys, one of whom was the then current P4P#1, the other of who even at 39-40 y/o when long past his absolute prime is an absolute wrecking machine who can punch holes in castle walls and had stopped every man he'd fought

    Again, even that old version of Beterbiev is light years better than everyone Shakur has fought, would brutally stop everyone Shakur has fought if they were the same size, and would beat the soul out of Shakur's body and brutally stop him too. Good luck trying to lay on the ropes doing the shoulder roll vs Beterbiev and trying to keep him off you for 12 rounds with feather dusters, and leaving your body exposed to those brutal body shots of his. They sound like it's a HW throwing them. Beterbiev doesn't get tired and he can maintain that pace from first round to last and every shot is heavy and hurtful or extremely heavy

    Would Bivol beat a prime Beterbiev? I think not but Shakur ain't beating any version of Beterbiev. If you're petrified of De Los Santos' power good luck vs Beterbiev. Nobody genuinely believes Shakur would beat a same size Beterbiev it would be a terrible match up for him.
     
    Serge, Jul 14, 2025 at 7:30 AM
    Serge, Jul 14, 2025 at 7:30 AM
    #53
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  9. Ted Spoon

    Ted Spoon Boxing Addict Full Member

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    But Shakur has very quick hands and reflexes. Strip them away and he's not the same guy. Take away power and we never hear of Deontay Wilder. I don't see how you can separate athleticism from a fighter. It molds who they are/how they fight.

    Also, again, what do we mean by more skilled? Better? More effective? Shakur may continue to impress, but, right now, we have three active fighters in Usyk, Inoue and Crawford, all of whom have faced greater challengers, and there isn't a single truly controversial fight across all three careers. Skill, natural ability, call it what you like, it's a tier or two above what Shakur has done so far. That's not a criticism. That's giving the top trio in boxing their proper due.
     
    Ted Spoon, Jul 14, 2025 at 7:43 AM
    Ted Spoon, Jul 14, 2025 at 7:43 AM
    #54
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  10. Joeywill

    Joeywill Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Canelo was at LHW. People overrate that win for Bivol like crazy
     
    Joeywill, Jul 14, 2025 at 7:49 AM
    Joeywill, Jul 14, 2025 at 7:49 AM
    #55
  11. Flo_Raiden

    Flo_Raiden Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    He's definitely one of the best current fighters now skill for skill. Probably the best at 135 right now. Frustrating as he is at times he always shines when he has the right dance partner who brings the best out of him.
     
    Flo_Raiden, Jul 14, 2025 at 7:55 AM
    Flo_Raiden, Jul 14, 2025 at 7:55 AM
    #56
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  12. Serge

    Serge Ginger Dracula Staff Member

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    Bivol is a small LHW who weighed 183lbs with a 1.5'' reach advantage, Clenelo is a fully fledged SMW who weighed 178-180lbs

    Bivol is routinely giving up at least 5lbs at LHW and often more or sometimes way more. Zurdo weighed at least 13lbs more than Bivol and it may well have been more or a lot more

    Crawford, even if he weighed what he did at 154, which he obviously won't, weighs 8-10lbs less than Clenelo with a big reach advantage over him and Crawford was super lean with no fat on him at that weight

    Loma was routinely outweighed by 2-3 divisions at 135 whilst simultaneously routinely giving away 3'' to almost 6'' in reach. He was outweighed by 4 divisions vs Haney whilst also giving away almost 6'' in reach. The size disparity was obscene.

    It's David vs Goliath when Canelo and Terry and others are giving away a lot less or way less weight and reach than what Loma was routinely but crickets when Loma was routinely giving away lots or way more than they are or are going to be.

    Not aiming this at you but It's really hard to take a lot of fans seriously
     
    Serge, Jul 14, 2025 at 8:05 AM
    Serge, Jul 14, 2025 at 8:05 AM
    #57
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  13. Lonsdale81

    Lonsdale81 Member Full Member

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    Stevenson has been a professional for 8 years already yet has moved up just 9lbs of divisions (126-135) despite walking around at over 170lbs.. out of the 5 major title he's won over those 3 divisions THREE were VACANT titles.. he hasn't fully unified any one division & his best win is William Zepeda (barely beat a 35 year old Tevin Farmer) who is stylistically tailor made for him. This isn't evidence of the best boxer in the world. You've seen nothing extraordinary with Stevenson, it's the same old careful matchmaking, resume padding, trinket belt garnishing we've seen numerous times with these weight grifting US rehydrator types like Haney, Stevenson & Crawford.
     
    Lonsdale81, Jul 14, 2025 at 8:45 AM
    Lonsdale81, Jul 14, 2025 at 8:45 AM
    #58
  14. BoxingIQ

    BoxingIQ Well-Known Member Full Member

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    If we're talking ability, I dont see anyone outboxing shakur tbh
     
    BoxingIQ, Jul 14, 2025 at 8:51 AM
    BoxingIQ, Jul 14, 2025 at 8:51 AM
    #59
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  15. BoxingIQ

    BoxingIQ Well-Known Member Full Member

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    I think Bivol is above Crawford and Inoue due to resume. Neither have a Beterbiev on their resume
     
    BoxingIQ, Jul 14, 2025 at 8:55 AM
    BoxingIQ, Jul 14, 2025 at 8:55 AM
    #60
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