Why Shakur Stevenson Won’t Fight Richardson Hitchins

Shakur Stevenson says he won’t fight unbeaten light welterweight contender Richardson Hitchins because “He would have to get his name up.” WBC lightweight champion Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) states that a fight between him and Hitchins (19-0, 7 KOs) doesn’t make sense “business-wise.”

Hitchins Needs to Build His Name

Shakur says he’s fighting in arenas and doing “big s***” with his career now. The Matchroom Boxing-promoted #1 IBF and #3 WBO-ranked Hitchins is coming off a controversial 12-round unanimous decision win over Gustavo Lemos on April 6th.

Hitchins is challenging IBF light welterweight champion Liam Paro for his belt on December 7th at the Roberto Clemente Coliseo in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The fight will be shown live on DAZN. If Hitchins wins that fight, Shakur could show interest, especially if he loses his WBC lightweight title in February.

Stevenson feels his popularity is above Hitchins’s, which is interesting because hardcore boxing fans dislike the Newark, New Jersey native. He’d been maneuvered well by his former promoters at Top Rank after signing with them in 2017.

Recently, Stevenson left Top Rank and signed with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom. He was supposed to have debuted with them against Joe Cordina on October 12th, but he suffered a hand injury while training for the fight and had to cancel. Stevenson’s first fight for Matchroom will be in February against #1 ranked William Zepeda.

Greg Hackett: “What about you and Richardson Hitchins? Do you think that fight ever happens?” Coach Hackett told GHBTV.

Shakur Stevenson: “I probably wouldn’t even fight ‘Africa.’ That’s another one. He’s been my brother for years and years. I just don’t f*** with [him] right now. Truthfully, I don’t f*** with him. You got to realize that a lot of these fights don’t make sense. A fight with me and Africa business-wise. This is no disrespect to him, but I’m fighting in arenas. I’m doing big s***. He would have to get his name up, and it’s personal. That s*** is personal.”

Things could change for Shakur and Hitchins, depending on the outcomes of their next fights. If Shakur loses to Zepeda and Hitchins defeats Paro, it’ll be interesting to see how things work out with their careers.

Shakur would need to rebuild, and he might want to move up to 140. It wouldn’t make sense for Shakur to remain at 135 if he’s knocked out badly by William Zepeda like many fans are predicting will happen.