Shakur Stevenson says he wants to learn how to use the wrist exercises that light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev uses for his training.
IBF, WBC, and WBO 175-lb champion Beterbiev (20, 20 KOs) do pushups where he bends his wrists. It looks difficult to do without suffering a serious hand injury.
Obviously, Beterbiev has been doing these exercises for many years, and he’s naturally strong. Without having strong hands and wrists like Beteriev, it would be risky for Shakur, 27, to add this exercise to his training.
WBC lightweight champion Shakur recently suffered a right-hand injury while training for his now-canceled fight against Joe Cordina on Saturday’s Beterbiev vs. Dimitry Bivol card in Riyadh.
Stevenson had a left hand and shoulder injury in his fight against Edwin De Los Santos last November. He couldn’t sit down on any of his shots against De Los Santos and was forced to run for the full 12 rounds to prevent getting knocked out by the big puncher.
If Shakur’s hand injuries become chronic, his career success will be limited because he can’t fight on the move the way he’s done thus far once he begins facing better opposition. He’s gotten by thus far because he’s not fought A-level opponents.
When Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) does come back from his hand injury, he’s got a tough title defense against #1 WBC contender William Zepeda in February.
Shakur will have to gain some punching power for him to have a chance of beating Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs) because this guy has been mowing down his opponents, and he’s good at cutting off the ring against movers.
If Shakur suffers an injury during the Zepeda fight, he might as well have his corner stop the contest because he won’t win a decision against him. He knows how to cut off the ring and will chop him down. Zepeda might do it anyway, even against a healthy Shakur.
