Shakur Stevenson has been criticised for the second fight in a row for not entertaining enough.
The defensive master and three-weight world champion won the vacant WBC Lightweight belt against hard-hitting Edwin De Los Santos, scoring a unanimous decision by avoiding most of what was coming his way and scoring when he could.
In his first defence against Artem Harutyunyan this month, fans felt he once again didn’t turn up the gas enough whilst coasting to a points win.
In a post-fight conversation with friends Terence Crawford and Andre Ward – two of the best boxing minds to pick apart a fight – Stevenson wasn’t spared an honest assessment from ‘Bud’, who wanted to see more shots thrown. The behind the scenes moment was captured by Top Rank.
“Hit him off with your jab. You weren’t jabbing, bro. You was just following him. You gotta jab your way in.
Them body shots were hurting him, but you weren’t letting your hands go. You was just picking the pace up with your movement., but your hands wasn’t … He was throwing you off with them feints. That’s why I kept telling you feint him back and jab.”
Stevenson made his case in return, saying Harutyunyan was in there to survive.
He has received criticism from fans, analysts and fellow fighters but has been keen to fight his corner on social media as well as vowing to keep improving in the gym ahead of his next bout.
As the 27-year-old enters a period of free agency and holds talks with promoters who would like to link up, his next opponent is up in the air. He has welcomed number one contender William Zepeda, but Oscar De La Hoya has said Stevenson must sign with Golden Boy Promotions if he wants the fight.
