Shakur Stevenson has been labelled as “boring” by a Hall of Fame inductee, who struggles to see why the slick southpaw is hailed as an elite technician.
Indeed, the 29-year-old is widely considered to be one of the finest pure boxers of this generation, as evidenced by his dominant victory over Teofimo Lopez in January.
Even before becoming a four-division world champion, Stevenson had showcased his skills with scintillating performances against the likes of William Zepeda and Oscar Valdez.
The American has not quite done enough to impress three-division world champion James Toney, though, as the pound-for-pound legend believes old-school fighters, such as himself, were far more successful at implementing the shoulder roll.
This style of defensive ingenuity saw Toney become a three-division world champion, defeating the likes of Michael Nunn and Mike McCallum before losing a unanimous decision to Roy Jones Jr in 1994.
In terms of technical geniuses, ‘Lights Out’ also regards Sugar Ray Robinson as perhaps the greatest of all time, with his credentials far outshining those of Stevenson.
Expressing his opinion while speaking with Fight Hub TV, Toney simply suggested that Stevenson must prove himself to a greater extent than he already has.
“I like Shakur, but he’s boring. [He has] good boxing skills, [but] I don’t know if he can apply the shoulder roll the way James Toney and [other] old-school [fighters did].“
“Sugar Robinson was a technician – he boxed and stopped people. That’s how you become a technician. You don’t become a technician by running around the ring and all that. But, as I said, he’s a good fighter but he’s got to prove himself, stop running your mouth and fight the real fights.”
While perhaps not meeting Toney’s lofty standards, it is difficult to place Stevenson anywhere outside of the current pound-for-pound top five, especially given that he has never come close to losing a professional contest.
