Shakur Stevenson nearing promotional agreement with Lou DiBella
The managers of Shakur Stevenson are finalizing a deal for the unbeaten WBC lightweight and three-division champion to be represented by veteran New York promoter Lou DiBella for Stevenson’s planned title defense versus Mexico’s William Zepeda on July 12 in New York.
Boxing reporter Dan Rafael first reported DiBella’s involvement – a shift for Stevenson, 23-0 (11 KOs) – away from his two-fight agreement with Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn that included a title defense on February 22 against late-replacement opponent Josh Padley in Saudi Arabia.
According to an official connected to the agreement who was unauthorized to speak publicly on the matter, Stevenson’s co-managers James Prince and Josh Dubin were empowered to negotiate with DiBella because Hearn and Matchroom didn’t exercise their option for the second fight on the agreement with Stevenson.
DiBella’s team will work to represent Stevenson as the New York State Athletic Commission selects officials and assigns medical tests for fighters.
DiBella, according to an official close to the promoter, is said to be “very happy for” Stevenson, a fighter he views as “super talented – to be in a big show again, [DiBella] has gratitude”.
Hearn did not immediately return messages left for him on Monday by BS.
Hearn’s parting, said the official, freed Prince to negotiate directly with the Saudi Arabia boxing financier Turki Alalshikh after Stevenson previously accused Alaklshikh on social media of shorting the purse he originally promised when Stevenson and Zepeda sought to fight in 2024. Stevenson has since apologized for the misunderstanding, and the Zepeda fight is a go.
Zepeda’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, is expected to serve as lead promoter for the card that Alalshikh’s company recently announced – one that includes a super-middleweight bout between Edgar Berlanga and Hamzah Sheeraz, the WBC 140lbs champion Alberto Puello versus former champion Subriel Matias, and David Morrell in a light-heavyweight bout against Imam Khataev.
Golden Boy promoting the card and Berlanga also moving on from Hearn following the expiration of his multi-fight agreement with the promoter isn’t seen as a Saudi turn away from Hearn and Matchroom, who are overseeing the Times Square promotion on May 2 and will be involved in the coming Dmitry Bivol-Artur Beterbiev light-heavyweight title trilogy and the expected return of Anthony Joshua.
“Turki didn’t need Eddie to make a Shakur fight,” said a veteran fight official observing the Saudi’s movements. “That said, I strongly don’t think Eddie’s out … although I don’t think anybody’s solidly in [with Alalshikh] except Frank [Warren of Queensberry Promotions]. If it doesn’t help [Alalshikh’s] agenda, he doesn’t care who he does or doesn’t do business with.
“Eddie can be a difficult guy and I don’t think his ego’s going to handle well the idea that Turki is running boxing, but, that said, if [Alalshikh] wants to make a deal with Eddie for Joshua to fight Tyson Fury, I’m sure he can and will.”
One individual said the July 12 show may also deviate from the rotation of using Madison Square Garden or Barclays Center and get staged at another New York venue, as with the May 2 promotion.
The individual additionally said that they expect Alalshikh to create a fuller “round-robin” of bouts beyond the coming Ryan Garcia-Devin Haney rematch that is expected to follow the card on May 2.
The winner of the WBO 140lbs title bout between the champion Teofimo Lopez and Arnold Barboza Jnr will be positioned to meet the winner of Puello-Matias winner, for instance – or Stevenson may be coaxed to move up one weight class to meet either winner if he achieves his expected triumph.
“You can see [Alalshikh] is cornering those weight classes, and we know he’s not shy about overspending,” the individual said.
