WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson has split with Matchroom after completing one fight of his original two-fight deal, and he’ll be using Lou DiBella as his promoter for his next fight against William Zepeda on July 12th in New York.

Matchroom Split

According to Dan Rafael, Shakur had a deal with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom where either side could “opt out” after one fight of the two-fight deal. Stevenson (23-0, 11 KOs) has chosen to split after fighting Josh Padley on February 22nd. Rafael adds that Stevenson will get a “mid-7 figure payday” against Zepeda.

That’s excellent money for an undercard fight. The headliner on the July 12th card is Edgar Berlanga vs. Hamzah Sheeraz. Even if Shakur were headlining, he’s performed to the level of a fighter earning mid-7-figure paydays.

Shakur will be a free agent again after working with promoter DiBella for the Zepeda fight. It’ll be interesting to see where he goes. He likely is hoping that Turki Alalshikh will sign him to a lucrative contract like he did with Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, and Teofimo Lopez.

Hearn can’t be too pleased because he had hoped to promote Shakur’s upcoming fight against Zepeda (33-0, 27 KOs), and then potentially a unification against WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis. Losing Shakur after his fight against replacement opponent Padley has to be a big disappointment for Hearn.

If he knew that Stevenson was going to leave his company after one fight, he likely would have matched him against the toughest possible opponent rather than feeding him the electrician Padley.

One and Done

“In reporting on the July 12 card with Shakur-Zepeda, a 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,” said Dan Rafael on X.

“He had a two-fight deal with Matchroom, did one, apparently, either side could opt out after the first. Worked out very well for Shakur Stevenson. Gets a mid-7-figure payday with Zepeda that’s mandatory without a purse bid, hires a promoter for a flat fee that will make much less than a promoter that had him under contract would get, and will be a free agent after.”