Comments Thread For: Stevenson: Top Rank's Moving Conlan Real Slow, Keeping Him Away From Me

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

Michael Conlan and Shakur Stevenson sat a few feet apart Thursday on a makeshift stage inside Madison Square Garden. Stevenson suspects that's about as close as their promoter, Bob Arum, will allow Stevenson to get to Conlan. The unbeaten WBO featherweight champion told Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix during the most recent episode of Mannix's podcast that Arum's company, Top Rank Inc., has no intention of matching Conlan against him.
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[rudy]

I like Stevenson but got a lot of mouth and not really done much, he should have went straight for the Warrington and takes another fight and when Josh does he slags him off.

Why you worrying about Conlon your the champion defend it against a young fighter instead of somebody leftovers

[Corelone]

I don't know what's happening behind the scenes, but it looks like Shakur called out Warrington, and started regretting and forgetting, but then Josh goes running to Hearn. We know Hearn won't get him beat, that's a feed me stiffs move. Look for Warrington vs no hope in a ring at home soon. Marriaga is decent, but it's not what Shakur was hollering about. This one is a let down all the way around.

[Jab jab boom]

The unfortunate truth is that arum promotes his fighters based on their built in fan bases more than he does their in ring abilities. A white guy from Ireland is going to have a larger fan base than a black American from jersey. Same reason why under top rank, Oscar was much bigger than mayweather despite mayweather being the better fighter. It's also why arum kept juanma away from Gamboa. Certain fighters based on race/nationality will get a passionate fan base to follow them almost automatically, while others have a tougher road to success.

[Califire209]

The unfortunate truth is that arum promotes his fighters based on their built in fan bases more than he does their in ring abilities. A white guy from Ireland is going to have a larger fan base than a black American from jersey. Same reason why under top rank, Oscar was much bigger than mayweather despite mayweather being the better fighter. It's also why arum kept juanma away from Gamboa. Certain fighters based on race/nationality will get a passionate fan base to follow them almost automatically, while others have a tougher road to success.

Except that the white guy from Ireland doesn't have the skills to compete with Stevenson at the moment. I don't see the white guy from Ireland selling out shows anywhere or headlining the main event if he is so popular. Top rank promotes their Fighters based on their ability to win a fight look at Felix verdejo

[Jab jab boom]

Except that the white guy from Ireland doesn't have the skills to compete with Stevenson at the moment. I don't see the white guy from Ireland selling out shows anywhere or headlining the main event if he is so popular. Top rank promotes their Fighters based on their ability to win a fight look at Felix verdejo

I can guarantee you that if Stevenson were to face Conlan in Madison Square garden, just minutes from where Stevenson is from, Conlan would have more fans there. Arum knows that even if Stevenson is levels above Conlan, the potential for Conlan to have a more passionate following is greater. As far as verdejo, he was given the opportunity to be a star because he's puerto Rican. But he chose to s*** the bed so arum pumped the breaks on him.

[anonymous2.0]

I dunno if Conlan is being moved slow. It feels like he is compared to Stevenson, Murata, Loma, and Zou Shiming but looking at Conlan's record I get the feeling that Conlan's going to get a title shot sooner rather then later.

[aaronbnb]

I can guarantee you that if Stevenson were to face Conlan in Madison Square garden, just minutes from where Stevenson is from, Conlan would have more fans there. Arum knows that even if Stevenson is levels above Conlan, the potential for Conlan to have a more passionate following is greater. As far as verdejo, he was given the opportunity to be a star because he's puerto Rican. But he chose to s*** the bed so arum pumped the breaks on him.

TR most cares about marketability. They then match the fighter to give him a competitive fight that they are expected to win. This is where PBC makes no sense. Broner is their most marketable fighter and they repeatedly put him in fights where he was the underdog.

[Eff Pandas]

Definitely don't recall Bob mentioning Shakur vs Mick all that much these days. I remember when Bob was hyping Shakur vs Mick on a regular basis.

[hhh1200]

I'm not sure Conlan wins one round in a Stevenson fight, based on what I've seen from him. Ok, I'll give him 2. Stevenson spends time in the gym with Crawford and Ward. There's season why he looks like he is ahead of the curve by a mile.