{"id":806314,"date":"2026-07-17T15:09:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T15:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/806314\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T15:09:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T15:09:12","slug":"shakur-stevenson-signs-with-zuffa-boxing-eddie-hearn-reacts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/806314\/","title":{"rendered":"Shakur Stevenson Signs with Zuffa Boxing, Eddie Hearn Reacts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zuffa Boxing has signed four-division world champion Shakur Stevenson to a multifight deal, the promotion confirmed Thursday. Stevenson (25-0, 11 KOs) is the most decorated fighter to join Dana White\u2019s promotion, which launched in January with financial backing from Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

The 29-year-old Newark native and 2016 Olympic silver medalist has won world titles at featherweight, junior lightweight, lightweight and junior welterweight. He is coming off a wide decision over Teofimo Lopez for the WBO junior welterweight title in January. He joins a Zuffa roster that includes Conor Benn, Jai Opetaia, Richardson Hitchins and Edgar Berlanga.<\/p>\n

What Stevenson Said<\/p>\n

\u201cLine them up, one by one, and I\u2019ll beat all the top guys once I get them in front of me,\u201d Stevenson said in the announcement. \u201cWith Zuffa Boxing, I\u2019m going to go after the biggest fights in the sport and I will become the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stevenson was direct about what drove the decision. \u201cI\u2019m in the money-getting business,\u201d he told ESPN<\/a>, adding that \u201cthe money is insane.\u201d He also pushed back on the idea that the deal limits his options. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t have signed if I can\u2019t get the fights that I want,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He expanded on that in an interview with CBS Sports<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s about putting me in front of the guys that the fans want to see me fight. The guys they have been saying for years would beat me. Now, I\u2019m here to show that there is no hiding. If somebody doesn\u2019t want to fight and they say no, they are scared for real,\u201d Stevenson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShakur is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world,\u201d White said in a statement. \u201cHe\u2019s 29 years old, undefeated and already a four-division world champion. This is a massive signing for Zuffa Boxing, and I\u2019m looking forward to promoting this next fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who He Wants Next<\/p>\n

Stevenson has been linked to fights with Devin Haney, Ryan Garcia and Gervonta Davis. One name he removed from consideration is Zuffa lightweight Jose \u201cRayo\u201d Valenzuela, who called him out after the signing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m turning the fight down publicly right now just in case that they do come to the table and say, \u2018Oh, we want to fight Rayo.\u2019 Shakur will not be fighting Rayo,\u201d Stevenson said. \u201cThat will not be happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

His promotional debut has not been scheduled. Zuffa has said an announcement will come in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

Hearn: More Than Eight Figures<\/p>\n

Matchroom Boxing chairman Eddie Hearn says Zuffa paid well above market value for Stevenson and questioned whether the spending can last.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s crazy, but it\u2019s suicide,\u201d Hearn told Fight Hub TV, in comments reported by Boxing News 24<\/a>. \u201cYou can play that game when you try and break into a market. We did it with DAZN. You have to do it because what you\u2019re doing is you\u2019re taking away legacy for the fighter in return for money. The only way you do that is by drastically overpaying them. They\u2019re saying, basically, you can\u2019t fight for belts, you can\u2019t make history, but we\u2019re going to give you a load of money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hearn made clear his issue is with the business model, not the fighter. \u201cI know what Shakur is getting. He\u2019s crazy,\u201d Hearn said. \u201cMore than eight figures. Listen, Shakur is an unbelievable fighter, but there\u2019s a value to these guys. By the way, let him make it. I don\u2019t begrudge Shakur Stevenson. I know what legacy means to Shakur, but he\u2019s already got a lot of legacy. I would have liked to see him go on and pick up the other belts, but he\u2019s obviously got an opportunity that was too good to turn down. Good luck to him. It\u2019s a tough sport. Let him go and earn his money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hearn has felt Zuffa\u2019s spending directly. Benn left Matchroom for the promotion in February, and Hearn promoted Stevenson for a stretch after the fighter\u2019s Top Rank contract expired. Financial terms of the Zuffa deal were not disclosed by either side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zuffa Boxing has signed four-division world champion Shakur Stevenson to a multifight deal, the promotion confirmed Thursday. Stevenson…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":806315,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-806314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=806314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/806315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=806314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=806314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=806314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}