Three months after Zuffa Boxing shook up the sport's landscape by signing four-division champion Shakur Stevenson to a multi-fight contract, the pound-for-pound star announced Monday that he has been granted his release from the promotion. The 29-year-old Stevenson (25-0, 11 KOs), who moved up to 140 pounds in January to capture the WBO title in a dominant decision over Teofimo Lopez Jr., posted a video to his YouTube channel revealing the news. A native of Newark, New Jersey, Stevenson won a silver medal at the 2016 Olympics and was recently in talks for a megafight at a catchweight of 145 pounds with unbeaten welterweight champion Devin Haney that appeared to fall apart late last week as the two stars went back and forth on social media.
"I've been in camp for like eight weeks preparing for fights I was told was going to happen," Stevenson said. "It has not happened but, it is what it is, this is the business of boxing. I'm not pointing no fingers but upon all of these issues and things that have been going on.
"I've requested to be released from Zuffa Boxing. Now, over the weekend, my request has been granted and I'm officially a free agent. This time out, I want to tell the fans and everybody that's in the public that I am now taking my career in my own hands and I'm starting my own promotional company and I'm willing to work with other promoters and anyone else that's out there who is willing to be serious with my career as I am." Stevenson, who is managed by rap music mogul James Prince, turned pro in 2017 after signing with Top Rank and won world titles between 126 and 135 pounds before entering free agency in 2024.
Stevenson then signed with Matchroom Sport's Eddie Hearn but parted ways with the promotion after just one fight when he joined forces with Saudi Arabian adviser and financier Turki Alalshakh for his two most recent fights. "I'm just excited to be in this position," Stevenson said. "I'm just excited to be starting a new journey and the mission is still the same.
I want the biggest and best fights available at 135 or 140 pounds, where I hold my title. It doesn't matter the name, it doesn't matter who you put in front of me. None of these guys can beat me." A major part of the fallout in his negotiation with Haney seemed to surround Stevenson's unwillingness to move up just yet to the full welterweight limit of 147 pounds.
He addressed the topic in his latest video and said he needs another 1-2 years before moving up from junior welterweight. "Everybody is just pressing me to be a 147-pounder," Stevenson said. "I will get there but on my time and not on nobody else's [time]."
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