Sometimes doing the right thing and correcting some mistake in our behavior may not sit well with others, although the important thing is to be at peace with ourselves. That seems to be the basic principle that guides the recent actions of American boxer Shakur Stevenson, who after a cyclonic outburst of anger said everything against Turki Alalshikh, whom he accused of not being a man of his word and of wanting to pay him less than he deserves for a fight against William Zepeda. The problem is that no one believes him.
The WBC lightweight champion lashed out after Oscar de la Hoya, Zepeda’s promoter, said that Stevenson “had pulled out of the expected fight with the Mexican” without giving any further context, and Shakur corrected him by saying that he would not fight for a smaller purse that Alalshikh was offering when he had promised him much more
From ‘misunderstanding’ to ‘overreaction’
“I want this fight so bad that these guys want to take advantage of me by giving me way less than what I got for Padley just because they know how much I want it!” Shakur Stevenson wrote on his profile on platform X. This was followed by a phrase that aged very badly: “Real men stand up, never bow to anyone but the creator.”
That’s the context of a situation that today took another turn, after on the same platform Shakur apologized to Turki Alalshikh and reached an agreement to make the fight a reality: “Excited for my upcoming fight, it was a misunderstanding between Turki and the team. Apologies for my overreaction, let’s get to work @Turki_alalshikh!“, so the reactions were not long in coming.
“That’s why I don’t respect you”
In the comments, the Newark, New Jersey native was slammed for ‘bragging and bowing to the power of the Saudi businessman,‘ reminding him why he is ‘not respected in the boxing world‘: “That’s why I don’t respect you. You can’t even defend your own words. Pathetic” tweeted one fan; “Every time someone says crazy things to Turki, then they backtrack, haha“, said another.
In general, the tone of the diatribes against Stevenson went along the lines that money got the better of him than holding his dignity and that doing things right should take any economic motivation out of the equation, which in the eyes of fans, did not happen with Shakur and his capitulation to Turki and his growing power.
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