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Video surfaced today, showing the instant when Shakur Stevenson suffered a right-hand injury during sparring for his fight against Joe Cordina on October 12th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
This isn’t the first time Shakur has suffered a hand injury. Last November, he was injured during his fight against Edwin De Los Santos and was quite fortunate to get the decision.
These hand injuries that keep popping up suggest that Shakur has brittle hands, which could shorten his career.
WBC lightweight champion Stevenson threw a right hook to the body that didn’t look like it was thrown with any power. Immediately, Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) fell to the canvas in pain with a look of agony. He suffered a ruptured tendon in his right hand, which has now been successfully repaired during surgery.
Just imagine what would happen if Shakur suffered the hand injury during fights against Gervonta Davis or William Zepeda. Even if he stayed on the move for 12 rounds like he did against De Los Santos, he’s not going to beat those guys by landing an odd shot here and there. They’ll knock him out.
Stevenson’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, is optimistic that he’ll be back in early 2025, possibly against William Zepeda. That may not happen. It’s important that Shakur take his time coming back to ensure that this doesn’t become a chronic thing for him with his fragile glass-like hands giving out on him repeatedly.
“He’s hurt now. Hands take awhile. You never know how the recovery process is going to go. This is a tendon injury,” said Chris Algieri to the Probox TV YouTube channel about Shakur Stevenson’s right-hand injury.
“It’s very unfortunate for Shakur Stevenson. He’s one of the best fighters in the world today. A hand injury just when it seemed like his career was heating up. Making a big transition, signing with Matchroom. The PPV portion of this card is not the most well-known and exciting fighters on this side of the world,” said Algieri.
It might be a blessing that Shakur suffered the hand injury now because he can skip the Joe Cordina fight, which may have been another lackluster performance by him. Cordina can punch, and he would have forced Shakur to fight tooth and nail to win. Shakur wouldn’t have been able to put it on Cordina like Anthony Cacace did last May to score a knockout because he’s not a combination puncher like him, and he’s not as fearless.
‘It’s interesting that they’re saying it’s early 2025 [for Shakur to be back] this soon out because you don’t know how the recovery process is going to go,” Algieri continued. “There’s nothing positive for Shakur Stevenson.
Hearn is just guessing that Shakur will return in early 2025 because he could suffer a setback in camp and need additional surgery. For anyone who has suffered a blown-out tendon, it could be problematic to come back. This isn’t a tendon injury to one of Shakur’s legs. This involves the knuckle of his right hand, and that’s the type of injury that can reoccur.
“It’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out,” said Algieri. “Are they going to keep the price where it’s at?” said Algieri about the PPV portion of the October 12th Riyadh Season event, which is priced at $14.99.”
They’ll have to drop the price because U.S. fans will not be interested in paying to see Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Kamil Szeremeta in the main event. Eubank Jr. is a 34-year-old underachieving fighter from the UK who has only fought one world-class opponent during his career, George Groves, in 2018 and was soundly beaten. Szceremeta is just a journeyman.
“It was a very curious situation even with Shakur on the card, the fact that with the undercard and Shakur being the main event of the co-main as a PPV. It was going to be free for the main event, which is Beterbiev and Bivol, the much-anticipated fight we’ve been waiting for,” said Algieri.
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