{"id":236548,"date":"2025-07-04T04:55:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T04:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/236548\/"},"modified":"2025-07-04T04:55:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T04:55:09","slug":"conor-benn-slams-devin-haney-shakur-stevenson-as-track-stars-are-their-evasive-styles-hurting-boxing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/236548\/","title":{"rendered":"Conor Benn Slams Devin Haney & Shakur Stevenson As “Track Stars”: Are Their Evasive Styles Hurting Boxing?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Conor Benn labeled Devin Haney and Shakur Stevenson as \u201ctrack stars\u201d<\/strong> who would be better off on the track than in boxing. The welterweight contender, Benn, believes Haney (32-0, 15 KOs) and WBC lightweight champion Stevenson move too much for their own good.<\/p>\n

(Credit: Geoffrey Knott\/Matchroom)<\/p>\n

Evasive Styles Draw Fan Criticism<\/strong><\/p>\n

Recently, Devin and Shakur have received criticism for their evasive, \u201cTom and Jerry\u201d style of fights. Turki Alalshikh\u2019s Times Square card in New York City was laughed at by fans for the under-performing Haney and Teofimo Lopez, who he\u2019d paid millions to, choosing to run around the ring their entire fights. The fans who purchased the event on DAZN PPV<\/a> were furious.<\/p>\n

Zepeda vs. Shakur: Impact<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stevenson (23-0, 11 KOs) has a lot of pressure on him to perform and not revert to the movement he\u2019s done in the past in his defense against William Zepeda on July 12th in Queens, New York.<\/p>\n

With Turki laying down the law, saying he wants fighters to engage on his cards, it\u2019s a signal to Shakur that he needs to stand in the center of the ring and fight. It might not be possible for him against a high-volume puncher like Zepeda (33-0, 27 KOs).<\/p>\n

Without running, Shakur loses that fight. But if he does run, he\u2019ll displease Turki. Stevenson\u2019s purse for the fight is estimated to be $3-4 million. That\u2019s a lot of money for a fighter that typically doesn\u2019t entertain.<\/p>\n

Benn\u2019s \u201cBoring as Hell\u201d Prediction<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re both track stars. I don\u2019t even know what they\u2019re doing in boxing. I don\u2019t know Brian Norman, but what I do know is Devin Haney is a track star, and he\u2019s going to have his running shoes on. The fight is going to be boring as hell, because any fight he\u2019s in is boring as hell,\u201d said Conor Benn to Fight Hub TV<\/a> about the Brian Norman Jr. vs. Devin Haney fight in November.<\/p>\n

Shakur used to be an entertaining fighter when he fought at 135, and enjoyed a huge size advantage over his smaller, often considerably smaller, opponents. But since his fight against George Kambosos Jr. in 2022, he\u2019s been a mover and a clincher. He\u2019s become less entertaining to watch for the average fan.<\/p>\n

There are still pockets of fans that enjoy watching movers and huggers. They think it\u2019s smart boxing. There are just not enough of them who want to watch that style when there are so many more entertaining fighters to watch. Turki Alalshikh has been Devin\u2019s lifeline, choosing to use him on his cards despite the lack of interest from fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cDevin and Shakur,\u201d said Conor when asked if Turki Alalshikh\u2019s comment about not wanting any more Tom and Jerry fights on his Riyadh Season events was directed at Haney. \u201cThey\u2019re both track stars. They\u2019d definitely be more successful on the track for sure. They can\u2019t help it. They\u2019re fannies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boxing News 24<\/a> \u00bb Conor Benn Slams Devin Haney & Shakur Stevenson as \u201cTrack Stars\u201d: Are Their Evasive Styles Hurting Boxing?<\/p>\n

Last Updated on 07\/03\/2025 \t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Conor Benn labeled Devin Haney and Shakur Stevenson as \u201ctrack stars\u201d who would be better off on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":236549,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4108],"tags":[1935,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-236548","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114793186879482062","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236548\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}