Shakur Stevenson spent some time talking to boxing media about his win over Artem Harutyunyan over the weekend and why he gives himself a C+ grade for his performance in a fight that didn’t end up ending negative perception about his fighting style.
Stevenson on the fight getting off to a slow start
“At the end of the day the first three, four rounds I was trying to get adjusted. He was awkward, he not like a normal fighter, he bouncy. So he give you little feints and then throw some punches so I’m like okay, I’m getting a little adjusted. But then after a while I’m like ‘alright, let me pick it up and start stepping to this dude.
“Like I said, he’s an okay fighter and he know how to survive. When guys come in and they know how to survive and their objective is to make sure that they make it 12 rounds, they going to do their best to do it.”
Stevenson on if he was at all concerned about the entertainment level in this fight considering the reaction to his last outing
“I mean, I did what I could. I let my hands go at times, I put a lot of punishment on him at times, and that dude he was just trying to make sure he stayed on his feet.”
On if he’s willing to sign with PBC to get a fight with Tank
“I don’t know what I’m willing to do. I got to sit at the table and find out. I don’t know. I got to go back to the drawing board and see what I want to do.”
On how he rates his performance against Harutyunyan
“C+. Like I said, it come with it when guys come in here and they say ‘I want to survive, I want to make sure I make it to Round 12,’ sometimes it’s hard to get these guys out of there, especially at the top level.”