Retired professional boxer Timothy Bradley offered some advice to Shakur Stevenson in the wake of the American WBC champion’s July 6th fight, after which he received criticism for the second time in a row for his perceived boring performance against Artem Harutyunyan. With Stevenson recently lashing out sharply at the criticism he faced, Bradley explained in a recent interview how the Newark-born boxer could handle the backlash he is currently dealing with.
Speaking to boxing reporter Sean Zittel, Timothy Bradley gave an intricate explanation of why Shakur Stevenson (22-0, 10 KO’s) was considered boring according to public consensus.
“Shakur [Stevenson] is in a situation where he’s so damn good, and the talks about it, but the fans don’t believe he’s that good because they don’t see the greatness in him. He’s not the guy to have the explosive power; he’s not a guy that is super fast like an Amir Khan with blazing combinations or anything like that.”
“With the athleticism that he [Stevenson] has, he has mastered his skill in that department so damn well that it’s somewhat boring. It’s somewhat boring to watch for the fans at home; they want to see blood, they want to see action. Shakur doesn’t bring that, at the end of the day.”
Timothy Bradley
Bradley also addressed Stevenson’s behavior towards fans on social media, to whom he has responded extensively since the end of his July 6th fight.
“I’m just gonna say this to Shakur, man; you can’t blame anybody. You can’t blame these fans. These fans are the ones that are paying the ticket to see you fight. These fans are tuning in and giving you their time, on air [or] at their homes when they can be doing something else. They’re going to say something about it, and you have to accept it.”
“You don’t necessarily have to agree, but you have to accept it, just the way the fans also have to accept the fact that this is the way you fight—and they can make the choice to say, ‘Hey, I like the way you fight and I want to watch you, or not watch you at all, or not come to your fights.’
“It’s hard because I like the kid [Stevenson]. Believe it or not, I like the kid. I think he’s starting to get off the rails right now, he’s starting to go crazy, and I think he’s doing it purposefully because he’s going at everybody on Instagram and Twitter because I think he’s trying to take the villain role.”
“He’s trying to take the villain role and that’s going to boost his notoriety, and that’s going to create hate, and people—when [they] start hating somebody, they start watching them even more. For the most part, I think the kid is pretty respectful, I think he’s pretty honest, I respect his skill set.”
Timothy Bradley
Yesterday, Shakur Stevenson left an inflamed message on Twitter/X in response to perceived criticism from this same interview, remarking—among other things—that Bradley was just a pawn of ESPN:
“Tim Bradley another sell out. ESPN write his check so he gon’ listen to whatever the higher-ups tell him to say. That’s why nobody f*** with [your] bald-headed a**, bum a** n**** and [you] actually was a decent fighter. But by [the] time my career is over, I’ll have way more knockouts than [you]. Stop talking like [you] was Tyson and bro yo f***ing head shiny as f***.”
Shakur Stevenson
Contrastingly, Bradley’s interview with Sean Zittel showed him displaying absolute respect for Stevenson’s ability, suggesting that the WBC lightweight (135 lbs) had not caught the full interview prior to his post. Almost as if he predicted Stevenson’s post, Bradley made several points during the interview where he asserted that Stevenson needed to mature and further responded to comments made by Stevenson that were akin to the fighter’s above-mentioned post.
“When you see a guy like Shakur coming at me the way he’s coming at me, I just laugh. I just laugh at it because I’m thinking to myself, I’m saying, ‘Kid, just grow the hell up.’ Grow up, kid. Stop pointing the finger at everyone else. That’s what kids do, and look at yourself, man. Only you can turn this around. Only you can make the difference.”
Timothy Bradley
