The Boxing World Reacts to Shakur Stevenson’s Controversial Title Defense
Paulie Maliggaggi is one of the many people who don’t understand how Joe Cordina gets a title shot against WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson after being knocked out in his last fight three months ago.
Hearn’s decision under fire
Matchroom-promoted former IBF super featherweight champion Cordina (17-1, 9 KOs) was announced today as the opponent for Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol on October 12 in Riyadh.
Cordina, 32, is ranked #13 in the WBC at lightweight but has never fought there and is not someone most American fans know. Most fans who have seen Cordina fight before are aware of his eighth round loss to Anthony Cacace on May 18th.
Promoter Eddie Hearn may have underestimated the fan reaction to Shakur defending himself against his second straight opponent after losing.
Last July, Shakur made his first defense of his WBC lightweight title against Artem Harutyunyan, who had lost to Frank Martin last July. To break Shakur’s pattern of defending fights coming off a losing streak, Hearn should have taken him with one of the top five contenders, such as Raymond Muratalla, Andy Cruz, or Edwin De Los Santos.
“I hope so [Tank] Davis is not the new Canelo, and he is going to fight this fight. You want to see the best fight. This is what we have in the lightweight division,” said boxing analyst Paulie Malignaggi on YouTube channel Probox TV. “In this situation, the champion vs [Tank vs. Shakur].”
You can’t blame Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis for not wanting to fight Shakur for these reasons:
- Not a PPV draw
- Cannot sell tickets
- The reputation of the runner
- Three poor performances in a row
Malignaggi and Algieri Express Disappointment
“They are two of the best guys in the lightweight division. I understand that Cordina is tough, but she will lose. They bend the rules whenever they want. Now, you can lose and get a world title fight,” Malignaggi said, referring to Joe Cordina getting a title shot against Shakur following an eighth-round loss to Anthony Cacace on May 18.
Even though Cordina has been a strong fighter, he is not ranked in the top 10 at lightweight, has never fought there, and is not well known in the US. Cordina has not looked like a strong fighter in his last three fights against Cacace, Edwards. Vazquez, Shavkat Rakhimov.
“You wouldn’t have done this before. I don’t even understand how that is possible,” said Malignaggi.
“That fight doesn’t do much for me. “Cordina is getting out of trouble, going up in weight,” said Chris Algieri. “This is his first fight at 135, a bad loss to fight Shakur Stevenson, an amazing fighter, a top professional.”
Fans believe that Hearn chose Cordina as Shakur because he wanted to help him because he has Matchroom and is in need following his loss to Cacace.
“It doesn’t really matter in terms of the structure of Shakur Stevenson’s 135-lb division. Regarding Davis vs. Shakur Stevenson. Don’t hold your breath,” said Algieri.
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