Shakur Stevenson has always done his best to be a professional. A part of being one is making weight. It was never an issue in the past but once he was asked to make the cut prior to taking on Robson Conceicao, Stevenson flat-out couldn’t do it.
He may have been beltless once he moved up, but those five extra pounds were a relief. In his debut, he looked smooth. He hit the cruise control button against Shuichiro Yoshino then sat back and waited for his next opponent. He didn’t think it would take long, but Stevenson became incredulous as big-time name after big-time name expressed no interest in fighting him, even with the vacant WBC lightweight title on the line.
Eventually, team Stevenson knocked on the door of Frank Martin. A fistfight, whether it was in the ring or in the street, is something that Martin has never turned down. He wasn’t told much, but a shot at a world title against a notable name? Martin was all aboard.
Ultimately, Martin’s smile turned into a look of confusion. Taking on Stevenson would be the biggest night of his life, so why was he being offered just one million dollars for his troubles? During their conclaves, Martin told Stevenson that he would like a bit more deposited into his account. Ostensibly, those talks didn’t go well as Martin walked away.
Stevenson went on to hand Edwin De Los Santos a defeat but he also spent the next few months lambasting Martin. But while he didn’t like the way he went about it, Stevenson is still willing to jump in the ring with him whenever he wants.
“I’ll spin the block,” admitted Stevenson on his social media account. “I don’t turn down no smoke. I’m with fighting whoever comes to the table and it makes sense. If Frank Martin makes sense, then yeah, let’s do it. It’s all on him. He said no, I can’t control what the other fighter says.”