X<\/a>. He praised Hagler\u2019s jab, movement, inside work, and toughness.<\/p>\nNone of that is wrong. Hagler was all of those things. The issue was the tone. Hagler isn\u2019t a deep cut. He isn\u2019t a forgotten champion. He\u2019s one of the sport\u2019s reference points. For many fans, the shock wasn\u2019t that Stevenson admired him. It was that he sounded unfamiliar with him. That reaction didn\u2019t come out of nowhere.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, Shakur Stevenson dismissed Sugar Ray Robinson in an interview, calling him \u201cbuns\u201d and saying Robinson didn\u2019t know how to keep his hands up. Stevenson pointed to footage of Robinson taking hooks from Jake LaMotta and questioned the level of opposition Robinson faced.<\/p>\n
Those comments stuck. So when Stevenson later sounded amazed by Hagler, fans connected the dots. To them, it looked less like curiosity and more like shallow engagement with boxing history.<\/p>\n
The Shoulder Roll Isn\u2019t Saving Him<\/p>\n
That criticism spills over into how people judge Stevenson in the ring. He uses a Mayweather-style shoulder roll. The stance looks familiar. The results don\u2019t always follow. When Stevenson stands tall and stays still, the roll becomes easier to work around.<\/p>\n
Zepeda Went Right Under It<\/p>\n
That showed up clearly in his July fight against William Zepeda at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens. Zepeda didn\u2019t try to punch through the guard. He went under it. Right hooks to the ribs. Shots to the belly. Over and over. The shoulder roll didn\u2019t stop that.<\/p>\n
Fans keep saying Stevenson should fight like Hagler if he wants to be more popular. Stand his ground. Trade. Make it physical.<\/p>\n
Why Fighting Like Hagler Isn\u2019t Simple<\/p>\n
That misses the point. Hagler fought that way because he could. He lived in the pocket. He absorbed shots to give them back. Stevenson\u2019s entire style exists to avoid that kind of damage. Asking him to fight like Hagler isn\u2019t a solution. It\u2019s a risk.<\/p>\n
Praising Marvin Hagler like a recent discovery, after dismissing Sugar Ray Robinson earlier this year, reinforces the sense that Stevenson\u2019s relationship with boxing history is shallow and inconsistent. For a fighter who leans so heavily on technical identity and borrowed defensive systems, that gap matters. In boxing, ignorance of the past isn\u2019t charming. It\u2019s a credibility problem.<\/p>\n
Chris Williams is a senior writer for Boxing News 24, covering the sport since 2013 and reporting ringside from major events worldwide. His coverage dives into both established champions and hungry prospects battling for recognition. Over the years, Chris has contributed to numerous leading boxing outlets, earning respect for his sharp analysis and insider perspective.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hagler Was Never Hidden \u201cWhy nobody told me Marvin Hagler was this cold,\u201d Stevenson wrote on X. He…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":335362,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-335361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/335362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}