Shakur Stevenson is on the verge of recognition as one of boxing’s best and he has moved higher up the rankings following the retirement of good friend, Terence Crawford.
However, despite their relationship, there is one fighter that Stevenson believes could have beaten ‘Bud’, if they met in their primes.
Crawford hung up the gloves with an undefeated record after 42 fights, having become boxing’s fifth five-division world champion with a legendary triumph over Canelo Alvarez back in September.
That win earned Crawford an enormous amount of credit, thrusting himself into comparisons with those considered to be some of the greatest fighters in the long history of the sport.
Although, speaking to The Agnew Podcast, Stevenson labelled a fantasy fight between Crawford and Floyd Mayweather Jr as a ’50/50’ fight.
“It is hard to say with this s**t because, with both of them guys, they different, so it is hard to even picture who would win. Now, what I do say, I think that Floyd, early on in his career, he struggled with southpaws; I feel like ‘Bud’ is probably going to be a southpaw and be the southpaw that he has ever been against. So that would probably play a part.
“But, I’ve seen ‘Bud’ have little issues with guys like ‘Mean Machine’ [Egidijus Kavaliauskas], who was orthodox and [Yuriorkis] Gamboa was winning some rounds, so it is a 50/50 thing. You just never know who would come in on point and win that fight, so it’s hard for me to even give an answer.”
Whilst Crawford’s unbeaten record seems set in stone, Mayweather’s fabled 50-fight win streak could be at risk, if his mooted September rematch with Manny Pacquiao is a professional contest.
