Boxing Pound-for-Pound Rankings: Shakur Stevenson holds firm as

While the criteria which often goes into a fighter gaining inclusion within the top 10 of boxing’s pound-for-pound rankings is often debated by fans and media, popularity has never had anything to do with it. 

That’s good news for Shakur Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs), the three-division champion and reigning WBC lightweight titleholder, who has become a bit of a pariah of late after back-to-back performances that have seen his critics call him boring, question his punching power and declare his commercial stock outright dead as he exits his Top Rank promotional deal and enters free agency. 

The 27-year-old Stevenson certainly didn’t help his popularity by the aggressive nature of which he snapped back at his many detractors, which has led to social media beefs against everyone from Ryan Garcia and former world champion Ishe Smith to rapper and podcaster Mase. 

All of that makes for good internet fodder, of course. But it takes nothing away from how technically brilliant the southpaw from Newark, New Jersey, remains some eight years after he won a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Last weekend, Stevenson was dominant in limiting Artem Harutyunyan to single-digit connects in 11 of 12 rounds while thoroughly outclassing him over 12 rounds. But it has been understandably hard for fans to separate that from the huge expectations coming in as Stevenson, an overwhelming betting favorite, was unable to finish Harutyunyan, which led to a chorus of boos in his hometown as groups of fans walked out of the Prudential Center before the fight was even over. 

Fans will always prefer knockouts, which is an easy way to raise one’s profile and demand large salaries. And an argument could certainly be made that Stevenson could’ve (or even should’ve) risked more danger in order to create an opening to finish an opponent who was demonstrably out of his league.

Boxing, however, is just as much about the…