Tim Bradley has accused Shakur Stevenson of avoiding a world champion and, instead, pursuing a much easier fight against Manny Pacquiao.
Indeed, the 47-year-old Pacquiao is a far cry from his former self, despite battling to a draw against then-WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios in July 2025.
In doing so, the Filipino legend proved he can still compete to a certain extent but, more than likely, would fall drastically short against a truly elite-level fighter.
Most would therefore consider him an almighty underdog against Stevenson, who became a four-division world champion by dethroning Teofimo Lopez in January.
Several months later, the American ended up signing with Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing, but is yet to announce a date, location or opponent for his next outing.
According to various reports, however, Stevenson is now angling to face Pacquiao on the undercard of Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.
Reacting to this potential showdown for December 11, Hall of Famer Bradley said on his YouTube channel that, like Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, Stevenson is starting to become overly selective with his opponents.
“This whole generation [of fighters is] straight up soft. I’m thinking you [Stevenson is] growing some big balls – you want to face [WBA world super-lightweight] Gary Antuanne Russell.
“Yeah, you can beat him. But guess what? You want to fight him at 135 or 132[lbs], probably. You not willing to leap out and test your damn self.
“You used to talk so much trash about Tank, but you’re turning right into Tank Davis. This dude is literally trying to make a fight happen just with Manny Pacquiao. Nobody likes this s**t – Manny Pacquiao [is] way over the damn hill.”
Bradley went on to say that Pacquiao is no longer a mainstream attraction, probably doing under 200 thousand pay-per-view buys when he fought Barrios, while Stevenson just sees this as a shot at “free money”.
