Why was Zuffa Boxing so willing to let Shakur Stevenson walk? Fannon’s latest update leans on reporting from Steve Kim, who laid it out in an interview with Coach Malachi: Zuffa got tired of Shakur having different standards for different people. He would fight Conor Benn at 147. He would not fight Devin Haney at 147. The stipulations changed depending on the name across from him — and, per Kim’s account as Fannon relays it, the social-media chatter about those demands was being heard inside the building. So when Shakur asked to be released, the answer came easy: yeah, great, you can have it.
Fannon adds a piece of Dana White business logic he picked up from somebody who worked with Dana in the UFC: a fighter gets to reject a fight once. Reject again, and Dana wants rid of you, because he doesn’t like people who are difficult to work with. In Fannon’s telling, Shakur arrived with a primadonna attitude about who he would fight and on what terms, and Zuffa simply cut its losses. It’s an embarrassing situation for both sides, he says — but he does not buy the idea that Zuffa is a sinking ship. DAZN is crowded with PBC, Top Rank, Matchroom, Queensberry and Golden Boy, and there are only 52 Saturdays in a year. Fighters who can’t get dates there will need somewhere else to go.
So where does Shakur go? Fannon’s understanding is that the bridges are burned — with Zuffa, and, he believes, with Matchroom and Top Rank too. Who is left is the PBC. And per Fannon, Shakur is in talks with PBC to make a fight with Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz.
Here is where Fannon surprises people: he loves it. Pitbull, a former 140-pound champion, is no easy out. The fight would look something like William Zepeda vs Shakur — pressure that forces Shakur to actually fight. And because making a Pitbull fight means dealing with Al Haymon and PBC, Fannon sees a door creaking open to the fight he really wants: Shakur vs Gervonta “Tank” Davis. A loss, he notes, wouldn’t even hurt Pitbull, who keeps moving either way.
The conditions come with a warning. Fannon doubts very much that Shakur is getting $15 million for Pitbull Cruz, and he says plainly that it is not a good look to have Dana White let you walk away and cut his losses on you. If Shakur’s money expectations are within reason — and if he doesn’t attach nonsense stipulations to kill the deal — the fight can get done and be genuinely exciting. That’s the test now. The PBC road is open. Whether Shakur walks it, or prices himself off it like the last few, is entirely on him.
Video credit: Fannon International Boxing Channel.
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