Comments Thread For: Shakur Stevenson says 'young black guys' are held to a different standard when it comes to entertaining in the ring

[brettWall]

So what's the consensus? What's the verdict? Is he right or wrong about him being bashed because he's black?

[wrecksracer]

If Shakur was born a 6'3 175lb Russian boxer his name would be Dimitri Bivol. Why one gets praise for being a master boxer and the other is called a boring runner go figure?? Crazy!!

Come on! Bivol beat up Canelo, and everybody likes that. You didn't enjoy that?

[SUBZER0ED]

You want to know what it is, Shakur? Here it is; This is the hurt game. Sometimes you entertain and stop your opponents, and then sometimes, you take the cautious route because you don't want to get hit. That can be accepted to a degree, but when you outright jumped back and ran from De Los Santos every time he threw a shot, you disappointed many fans watching that fight. And, you never really made him pay when he missed. You simply refused to engage. So, in the next fight vs Harutyunyan, fans likely expected you to redeem yourself with some exciting work. You landed some good shots early on and just when it looked like you had figured him out and would go in for the kill, you went back into defensive mode and cruised to a boring victory. Did you hurt your knee, hand, throw out a shoulder? No, you just didn't want to risk getting caught with anything crazy from an opponent who was not quitting. And now, rather than admit that you're an entertainer who is failing to entertain, and needs to switch up his game, you play the race card. Pathetic.

[richardt]

So what's the consensus? What's the verdict? Is he right or wrong about him being bashed because he's black?

It's because he is perceived as being boring. But I thought his last fight was better than the previous one. I'd like to see him light up an opponent. However, if he fights Davis and makes Davis miss and makes him pay with counters and wins, that has to be seen as impressive no mater how he got the win or the way he does. And if he drops Zepeda's work rate way down and defeats him, it almost doesn't matter how he wins, if he can beat the top fighters with his style, more power to him, no pun intended. For the lesser opponents, I'd like to see him end those earlier. For the top guys, if he has a W12 over Zepeda and Davis, that is damn impressive.

[niceyboo3]

If Shakur was born a 6'3 175lb Russian boxer his name would be Dimitri Bivol. Why one gets praise for being a master boxer and the other is called a boring runner go figure?? Crazy!!

Bivol is boring to me too. I wont watch his fights. Only the Beterbiev and Canelo fights and it would only be to see if Artur lands...

[The Big Dunn]

While he may have a valid point, in Shakur’s case he and all talented young boxers are held to a different standard because of all the promise they show.

We all want to see greatness perform at its best. No one is going to overly scrutinize an average boxer.

If you are overly defensive against lower tier talent, lack charisma, and don’t show all your skill set, settling for a UD win, you are going to get criticized.

I’m still rolling with Shakur and remain a fan, but he needs to look in the mirror. He did right by leaving TR since they wouldn’t make the best fights for him.

Now you can make those fights. If you keep having the same performances, the criticism is going to keep coming.

[The D3vil]

He's 100% correct.

Bernard Hopkins talked about this 20 years ago.

Super talented Black fighters who aren't KO artists (ala Mike Tyson or Tank Davis) are always labeled boring.

Same thing happened to B-Hop, Pernell, Floyd, Devin, Ward, & everybody else who's more skills based.

I agree with the Loma/Usyk comparisons because they'll go on & on about how they're "playing chess" when they're not stopping people.

A lot of it's our own folks, who are mostly casuals these days, who are more into basketball & football & only watch boxing when Tank is fighting most of the time.

We used to get boxing more as a community.

[DClefthook]

Come on! Bivol beat up Canelo, and everybody likes that. You didn't enjoy that?

Sure it was a good fight but let's be honest. Bivol had that one food flurry in the late rounds that made everyone get out their seat. The rest of the fight he was potshotting..clinching and weak jabbing. Why don't we get all FIRE AND BRIMSTONE over Bivol doing it but Shakur catches heat?

[wrecksracer]

Sure it was a good fight but let's be honest. Bivol had that one food flurry in the late rounds that made everyone get out their seat. The rest of the fight he was potshotting..clinching and weak jabbing. Why don't we get all FIRE AND BRIMSTONE over Bivol doing it but Shakur catches heat?

I guess it's because Bivol did it against top p4p fighter Canelo. Shakur looked average against De Los Santos. If he wants to talk like he's great, don't turn in a performance like that. I'm not forgetting he turned down a shot against Haney for undisputed. I doubt he'll get an opportunity like that again.

[joseph5620]

He's 100% correct.

Bernard Hopkins talked about this 20 years ago.

Super talented Black fighters who aren't KO artists (ala Mike Tyson or Tank Davis) are always labeled boring.

Same thing happened to B-Hop, Pernell, Floyd, Devin, Ward, & everybody else who's more skills based.

I agree with the Loma/Usyk comparisons because they'll go on & on about how they're "playing chess" when they're not stopping people.

A lot of it's our own folks, who are mostly casuals these days, who are more into basketball & football & only watch boxing when Tank is fighting most of the time.

We used to get boxing more as a community.

I agree with everything you said here. It's true whether it's a popular veiw here or not. The exact same thing was said about Pernell Whitaker who wasn't appreciated the way he should of been until after he retired.