Eddie Hearn says he spoke with promoter Lou DiBella about the reports of Shakur Stevenson reportedly leaving Matchroom to sign with him for his next fight against William Zepeda on July 12th in New York. Hearn states that he reminded DiBella that WBC lightweight champion Shakur signed a “two-fight deal” with him, and still has another fight.

According to Hearn, DiBella said, it’s “Absolutely fine.” Eddie says he’s going to meet with Shakur, his team, and Turki Alalshikh next week. It’s believed this is to discuss Shakur’s fight against Zepeda (33-0, 27 KOs) on July 12th in New York.

Hearn says he’s not sure what Shakur will do after his next fight. As he said recently, he wants Stevenson to stay with Matchroom the remainder of his career. Obviously, if he looks great against Zepeda, he’s going to have a lot of different promoters interested in signing him. If Stevenson loses, he won’t be worth being re-signed by Hearn unless it’s at a reduced price from the previous contract.

He would need to be protected with the kind of soft match-making that’s been done throughout his career to keep from getting beaten repeatedly, because he has no power at 135 and his hands are brittle. Shakur can’t fight the way he used to against weaker, older fighters at 126 and 130

“I spoke to Lou DiBela. He said, ‘I’ve not agreed to anything.’ I told him, ‘By the way, we have a two-fight deal with Shakur Stevenson,’ and he said, ‘Absolutely, fine,'” said promoter Eddie Hearn to Boxing Social about his conversation with promoter Lou DiBella after hearing the reports on X about Shakur having split with Matchroom and signed with DiBella for his July 12th title defense against William Zepeda in New York.

Hearn wants to keep Shakur right now because he’s still unbeaten, but he may be glad to be rid of him if he loses to Zepeda or if he turns in another running performance like the one he had against Edwin De Los Santos, Jeremiah Nakathilia, Joet Gonzalez, and Oscar Valdez.

“I spoke with His Excellency yesterday [Turki Alalshikh]. After the Zepeda fight, who knows what’s going to happen?” said Hearn.” I would hope we keep him, but if not, it’s not, but it’s a two-fight deal. I just spoke to him [Shakur], the team, and His Excellency. We’re all meeting next week in New York.

“The issue is the money has changed from the proposed money from the fight,” said Hearn when told, ‘Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,’ and it could be that Shakur IS thinking about leaving Matchroom. “So, whether he’s unhappy with someone or whoever it is, we’ll meet face-to-face in New York next week. When you say it’s come from someone [that Shakur is thinking of leaving Matchroom]. It’s a dirty old game.

“I real bollocks on social media every single day. It’s designed to affect people, mess up their mental, stop them in their tracks, and have an agenda. That’s the world we live in. So, when you’re at the top, you get that more than ever. So, we saw that on Sunday. He’s a perfect example. Breaking down crying because of the stick he got online. That was designed to try and stop him in his tracks,” said Hearn.