Shakur Stevenson thinks he could have done much better in his unanimous decision win over William Zepeda this past Saturday – he gave himself a B- grade despite final scores from the judges of 119-109 and 118-110 (twice).
And yet the WBC lightweight titleholder also sounde glad that he fought how he fought, going into the trenches at times with Zepeda rather than emphasizing movement and remaining out of range.
“The world didn’t know that I can dig deep, and I kinda dug deep,” Stevenson said on Monday’s episode of The Ariel Helwani Show. “I got hit more than I wanted to. But I put on a performance that the fans like. I fought for the fans. I did what the fans wanted. A lot of people that ain’t expect that, because I’ve been telling y’all all week that I’ma fight for myself.”
Stevenson said he could have moved, that he could have used more lateral movement to start the fight. But he was also mindful of the criticism, including from the show’s financier, Turki Alalshikh, who said he didn’t want matches that resembled the cartoon pursuit of Tom and Jerry.
“I wanted to shut the critics up. I wanted to shut people up and get them something real to talk about, and also I want people to know that I can fight, too,” Stevenson said. “I’m not just a boxer. I’ve been boxing my whole life. I’m a fighter, boxer, I can do it all. Whatever I choose to do that night is what I’m going to do.”
Stevenson said he will review the footage to see what he can improve on for his next outing. He’s already concluded that he “sat on the ropes too much” and could have boxed a little longer at the outset before entering the battle with Zepeda.
Stevenson also bristled at his recent reputation, the criticism he received following a pair of wins over Edwin De Los Santos in November 2023 and Artem Harutyunyan in April 2024, in which some fans wanted to see more action, or at least a different kind of action.
Stevenson and De Los Santos combined for just 105 landed punches, including a mere 33 power punches, over the course of their 12 rounds, according to CompuBox. The unofficial stats for Stevenson-Harutyunyan were a combined 244 punches, including 183 power punches, most of the landed blows coming from Stevenson.
Between then and Saturday’s win over Zepeda, Stevenson defeated Josh Padley in February with a ninth-round TKO that was more aesthetically pleasing.
“I felt like it just wasn’t deserved,” Stevenson said. “During the Edwin De Los Santos fight, I understood it just ’cause of that night. But then when I fought Artem and how bad they made that performance feel, it was like, ‘Aight, y’all are tweaking.’ There’s nothing you really can do. I beat him 12-0, easy fight. Anybody else woulda had that type of fight, it woulda never been that much.”
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
