Shakur Stevenson’s style has been criticized by many, but one of his fights even broke a record after being labelled the worst fight ever.
Shakur Stevenson moved to 23-0 with a win over electrician-turned-boxer Josh Padley, and is scheduled to face William Zepeda next, with fans hopeful that a clash with Gervonta Davis may come after.
Stevenson has become one of the most divisive fighters in boxing, with some fans praising his tremendous skills and IQ, and others branding him as boring and suggesting all he does is run from his opponents.
It was in 2023 that Stevenson’s fight, or rather, his opponent, broke the record for fewest punches landed in a 12-round contest.
Devin Haney almost beat Shakur Stevenson’s terrible boxing record twice
Stevenson faced Edwin De Los Santos two years ago, in a fight that faced much criticism and ridicule for its less-than-exciting nature.
In fact, so little action occurred in the fight that it broke the record, well, Dos Santos did, for the fewest landed punches in a 12-round fight.
He landed just 40 punches on Stevenson, owing both to his cautious approach and Stevenson’s lack of engagement.
This record was, however, beaten in Devin Haney‘s fight with Regis Prograis, in which Prograis landed 36 punches, or three a round. This means Prograis landed on Haney just once a minute in their world title contest.
Haney’s recent fight with Jose Ramirez was also branded a snooze-fest and criticized accordingly, and fans aren’t wrong, as Ramirez tied with Dos Santos with only 40 punches landed in the entire fight. Haney was criticized by Tim Bradley over his recent outing.
Of course, Stevenson and Haney aren’t on the bad end of these records, and it takes skill to ensure an opponent is outclassed to the point where they are barely able to land.
However, fans are hesitant to place the entire blame on the opponent, and it is the styles of Haney and Stevenson, as well as that of their foes, that contributes to these undesirable records.
Shakur Stevenson broke down in tears after falling short of Olympic gold
Stevenson built up an impressive amateur record of 60-6, having lost to just five men.
One of those men was Robeisy Ramirez, who holds wins over Michael Conlan and Kal Yafai, who faced Stevenson in the bantamweight finals of the 2016 Olympic games.
Ramirez bested Stevenson in a close-fought final, winning the silver medal but falling just shy of the top spot.
He was interviewed after the loss, and said he felt Ramirez was the rightful winner, though he broke down in tears and said: “I don’t like to lose.”