Shakur Stevenson discusses decision to sign with Zuffa Boxing

LAS VEGAS — After years of being avoided by the biggest names in the sport and enduring criticism for his slick and defensive style, things are starting to turn around quickly for unbeaten, four-division titleholder Shakur Stevenson. 

The defending WBO junior welterweight titleholder, Stevenson (25-0, 11 KOs) is fresh off of the two biggest victories of his career, outslugging unbeaten lightweight William Zepeda last summer before pitching a near shutout against Teofimo Lopez Jr. in their January 140-pound title bout, which cemented his status as one of the best pound-for-pound boxers on the planet. 

And last Thursday, the 29-year-old Stevenson, a 2016 U.S. Olympic silver medalist, made quite the splash in the free-agent market by becoming the biggest signing to date for TKO and Dana White’s upstart Zuffa Boxing promotion, which debuted in January and is funded by The Kingdom Saudi Arabia and its entertainment chairman, Turki Alalshikh. 

Although the terms of the deal were not made public, let’s just say that Stevenson, a native of Newark, New Jersey, was smiling from ear to ear when asked about the financial terms. 

“Listen here, the money is insane and I love the money. But it’s about a bunch of different shit,” Stevenon told CBS Sports on Friday. “It’s about putting me in front of the guys that the fans want to see me fight. The guys they have been saying for years would beat me. Now, I’m here to show that there is no hiding. If somebody doesn’t want to fight and they say no, they are scared for real. There’s nothing stopping these fights from happening so let’s get it in.” 

To Stevenson, who has won world titles in four divisions between 126 and 140 pounds, the deal represents a major point of validation to everything he has endured up to this point, which included serial hand injuries and a small handful of safe performances against inferior competition that forced even his hometown fans to boo him and leave the arena early. 

As soon as Stevenson was able to truly test himself, however, the 5-foot-8 southpaw backed up everything he ever said about  — which included a decision to stand and trade with the hard-charging Zepeda in entertaining fashion — and even drew comparisons to a young Floyd Mayweather for how easily he picked apart a former P4P stalwart in Lopez. 

“It feels so good because I came so far,” Stevenson said. “A lot of people have gone against me throughout my career. A lot of people told me I wouldn’t be in this situation. Now, they have to sit there and watch. I enjoy making these people that went against me suffer.”

Stevenson actually credits his sublime performance against Lopez, which took place in a January pay-per-view main event inside New York’s Madison Square Garden, with setting the stage for the Zuffa deal. 

“I think [in] my last fight, I kind of proved myself to be one of the best fighters on the planet,” Stevenson said. “The way that I fought that night, Zuffa kind of saw it and they hit me up. They knew they had to get one of the faces of boxing to come out and show them how great I am. They are going to give me the opportunity — their vision is big, just like mine. I just can’t wait to show it again and again and again and again.”

While the deal is huge for Stevenson and his hopes to attract the biggest names in and around his weight class — including Devin Haney and Gervonta “Tank” Davis — one could argue the deal is even bigger for what the signing says about Zuffa Boxing. 

White, the UFC CEO and president, has long pleaded with the media not to judge the success of the new promotion until the end of its first year in January. But just six months after launching, Zuffa Boxing has now added Stevenson to a list of signed boxers that includes Jai Opetaia, Conor Benn, Richardson Hitchins, Edgar Berlanga and Jose “El Rayo” Valenzuela. 

“I think it means a lot [for Zuffa],” Stevenson said. “I think now we will see a lot of younger kids and people in the next generation follow in my footsteps. They are probably going to want to be with Zuffa. I’m just a leader. I’ve never been a follower. A lot of people said, ‘Don’t sign with Zuffa. Don’t mess with Zuffa.’ I’m not scared of taking big risks. 

“I think the [Zuffa] product is great. It’s a building process. Dana is freshly new in the sport of boxing but I think with signing me, that’s the most amazing move he made. This is chess, not checkers. You go and get a guy that is dedicated, disciplined and ready to do whatever it takes to create his own destiny, it puts him at the top of the list of promoters. He did a great job getting this signed. I commend him.”

One thing Stevenson isn’t worried about is whether he will be defending his WBO title at 140 pounds moving forward or whether he will be fighting for Zuffa titles. Because of the influence of Alalshikh, Stevenson believes that the entire sport will soon fall under one umbrella allowing the biggest fights to be made. 

“We can sit here and act like there are certain sides of the street,” Stevenson said. “I think fans are just used to that. But, truthfully speaking, Turki has changed the whole dynamic in the sport. Turki has given fighters like me opportunities to prove himself whether he is signed with this guy or signed with that guy. He don’t care. He’s putting all of these guys in the same room and they are able to work together.” 

For the record, Stevenson has nothing against the WBO, saying, “they have treated me well.” He’s more than willing to beat whomever he has to in order to keep the title but said he’s more focused on the level of names he can secure fights against more than anything else. 

Stevenson has previously offered to face Haney, the WBO welterweight champion, at a catchweight of 144 pounds and said he stands by the offer. But he’s not ready just yet to make a permanent move up to 147 pounds in order to chase a fifth world title in as many weight divisions. 

“I probably will fight welterweight before my career is over but that will be my last weight class, I will not be going up to 154. I’m a smaller guy and I’m naturally a 135-pounder. I still can make 135 pretty easily.”

The one opponent Stevenson seems to have no interest in facing is Valenzuela, the Zuffa lightweight and former 140-pound titleholder, who knocked out former Stevenson opponent Edwin De Los Santos in their rematch last month before calling out Stevenson. De Los Santos lost to Stevenson in 2023 but limited him to just 40 punches landed, which were the fewest in a 12-round bout tracked by CompuBox in its four-decade history. 

“I don’t plan on fighting ‘Rayo.’ I don’t think that ‘Rayo’ is an interesting fighter enough for me to even want to fight him,” Stevenson said. “If he is brought to the table by Zuffa or anyone else, I will be turning him down so I don’t really plan on fighting ‘Rayo.’ The win against Edwin De Los Santos, it looked good on paper but Edwin De Los Santos fought one round in the last three or four years. 

“Clearly, [De Los Santos] wasn’t training and wasn’t in the gym or at his best. For me, no, I don’t plan on fighting Valenzuela. I saw [WBA junior welterweight titleholder] Gary Antuanne Russell beat ‘Rayo’ pretty easy and I would rather fight a Gary Antuanne Russell than a ‘Rayo.'”

The new deal has left Stevenson happy, excited for the future and very confident about where he currently sits among the best P4P boxers in the sport today. 

“I think being that Teofimo Lopez was one of the ‘Four Kings’ [of the modern era] and he beat [Vasiliy] Lomachenko and Josh Taylor, the way that I beat him puts me at the top of the line – maybe No. 1, maybe No. 2 or maybe No. 3 on the P4P list,” Steveson said. “The way that I made him look like an amateur that never boxed before. The P4P list is an opinionated list so we can’t really say who is best. We can all have our opinions, for sure. But you don’t have no question about top three, it should be me.”