Shakur Stevenson may not have a reputation as the most exciting boxer in the sport, but that hasn’t stopped him from getting paid. No wonder the WBC lightweight champion doesn’t sound particularly excited about Dana White and TKO getting into boxing.

Stevenson is set to box William Zepeda this Saturday (July 12th, 2025) on DAZN (order here) and is expected to make somewhere between $3 and $5 million for his efforts. That’s money only the very top of the top athletes in the UFC make per fight, and Shakur is concerned that White wants to bring the UFC model of pay into the boxing world.

“I like Dana, Dana is a great guy,” Stevenson said on a recent Ariel Helwani show. “I actually never really got a chance to meet him, but I kinda watch everything he says. So I’m a studier. Only thing that I say: just pay me. Right? Okay. I’m not trying to get a pay cut.”

“I know these guys are trying to bring the pays back down,” he added. “I’m not with that.”

When told how the UFC splits fighter pay in half to show and win money, Stevenson reacted in shock.

“Hell, man. F—k me,” he exclaimed. “I disagree with that.”

“I disagree with that because guys, you want guys all to fight these fights where it’s [even] fights. If you want them to get in the ring, if you tell them that they’re not gonna make a certain amount of money if they don’t win the fight, they’re not gonna get in the ring. It’s gonna create chaos and people not gonna fight each other.”

That ignores the fact that UFC has the leverage to just sit out fighters that refuse fights, but you can’t blame him for not being familiar with all the ways MMA’s monopsony power has to keep the pay down. He just sees the end result and doesn’t want it for boxing.

It’s still unclear how TKO’s boxing venture headed up by Dana White and Nick Khan will change the landscape. On one hand, TKO doesn’t spend a nickel more than they have to on fighter pay, ever. On the other, they’re partnered with Saudi boxing power broker Turki Alalshikh, who is not known for his budget discipline.

Stevenson fights on The Ring 3, Alalshikh’s third numbered card. Let’s see how pay is looking by The Ring 13.