Shakur Stevenson recently announced that his request to be released from his contract with Zuffa Boxing without even throwing a punch has been granted.
The undefeated pound-for-pound star was a marquee signing for Dana White’s new boxing venture, and had been linked to fights with Devin Haney, Gary Antuane Russell and Manny Pacquiao for his debut.
If any of those fights do materialise, it won’t be with Zuffa, as Stevenson revealed during the week.
“I requested to be released from Zuffa Boxing. Now, over the weekend, my request has been granted, and now I am officially a free agent.”
“I’ve been in camp for like eight weeks, preparing for fights that I was told was going to happen and have not happened. It is what it is. This is the business of boxing. I’m not mad at anyone, I’m not pointing fingers.”
Now, speaking at a UFC press conference, White was asked about the situation and said:
“I offered him the release.”
The promoter was then asked directly if the situation has taken this turn due to Stevenson being “difficult to work with.”
“Listen, man, I think that everyone involved in it is happy with where we’re at with it. I’ve nothing bad to say about him or his team. I offered him the release and they accepted.
“We never even did one fight with the guy. We were in business with him for a couple months. Listen, I’m not going to get into all this. I’m not gonna say anything negative about him … We got to a position where we both agreed we were cool with the release.”
White has unsurprisingly come under fire from rival promoters for how the partnership played out.
Stevenson says he is starting his own promotional outfit, and will work across the board to make big fights happen.
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