EDDIE Hearn has reaffirmed his promotional agreement with Shakur Stevenson amid speculation that the WBC lightweight champion had parted ways with Matchroom Boxing.
Overnight, boxing journalist Dan Rafael posted on X that Stevenson, 27, had “split” from Matchroom. Rafael wrote, “In reporting on July 12 card with Shakur-Zepeda, source with knowledge of specifics told me Shakur split from Matchroom. James Prince, his manager, has hired Lou DiBella as his promoter for the event to handle things on their behalf.”
Stevenson is set to defend his world title against mandatory challenger William Zepeda in New York on July 12, supported by a strong undercard featuring Edgar Berlanga vs. Hamzah Sheeraz, Albert Puello (IBF super-lightweight champion) vs. Subriel Matias, and David Morrell vs. Imam Khataev. An official announcement is still pending.
Boxing News reached out to Hearn for comment on the rumour. The Matchroom chairman responded succinctly, saying, “We have a two fight agreement with Shakur Stevenson and TAS (Turki Alalshikh).”
Earlier this month, tensions surfaced when Stevenson responded to a post on X from Zepeda’s promoter suggesting the champion had pulled out of the fight. Stevenson replied, “Is that what they told you?? Turki promised me a number and now he going way back on that number.”
However, last week, Stevenson clarified the situation on X, posting, “Excited about my next fight it was a misunderstanding between Turki and the team. My apologies on my part for overreacting. Let’s work.”
Hearn addressed the issue after Dalton Smith’s victory over Mathieu Germain in Sheffield on Saturday night, telling Boxing News, “I think sometimes across social media you can get it a little bit twisted. They had a chat, everything’s worked out. Obviously, we agreed a deal with His Excellency for Shakur Stevenson to have two fights. One was Josh Padley, the next one is Zepeda so that looks all systems go for July 12. We’ll be seeing everybody on Monday and Tuesday in London for the arrival and I’m sure there will be a lot more business done then. Looking forward to another wild card on July 12.”
Stevenson joined Matchroom in August 2024 after parting ways with Top Rank. Following a stint as a free agent, the UK-based promotion secured his signature and arranged a title defence against former IBF super-featherweight champion Joe Cordina on October 12, 2024, in Riyadh. Stevenson announced, “I am ready to start this next chapter of my career and it begins on October 12 with Joe Cordina on the stacked Riyadh Season card in Saudi Arabia. I’ve made it clear that I want the biggest names and the biggest fights in the sport. Bring on William Zepeda at the top of 2025 and I’m ready for anyone who is brave enough to step in the ring with me. There have been few willing to take on that challenge in recent years.”
Hearn praised Stevenson as a “pound-for-pound great,” adding, “This young man should be a global superstar, and I believe with our machine behind him, he will land all the big fights and receive all the credit that he deserves. The journey begins on October 12 in Riyadh on a huge card, and we cannot wait for the future together.”
However, Stevenson withdrew from the Cordina fight a month later due to an injury. Cordina expressed frustration to Boxing News about learning of the cancellation indirectly, saying, “It was about 11 o’clock at night, I was ready to turn my phone off. I refreshed Instagram and I seen a statement. I thought right is this someone taking the piss because I haven’t had a phone call. Still never had a phone call the next day.”
In February 2025, Stevenson was scheduled to face unbeaten American Floyd Schofield in Riyadh on the Beterbiev-Bivol 2 undercard. When Schofield withdrew due to illness, British lightweight Josh Padley stepped in on short notice. Despite a valiant effort, Padley was stopped in the ninth round. His performance impressed Matchroom, who signed the 29-year-old a week later. In his first fight under the Matchroom banner, Padley defeated Marko Cvetanovic by fifth-round TKO on the Dalton Smith-Mathieu Germain undercard on Saturday night.
