Is Shakur Stevenson Helping Or Hurting Crawford’s Chances Against Canelo?

Shakur Stevenson revealed today that he had some “good rounds” sparring with the GOAT, Terence Crawford. WBC lightweight champion Shakur is trying to help Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) get ready for his title challenge of four-belt super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez on September 13th in Las Vegas.

Why Shakur Had to Speak

Shakur’s move to brag about his sparring is strange. Fans on social media are roasting Shakur now, asking him, “How many miles did you run?” Unless Crawford took it easy on him, it had to have been a bad session for Stevenson.

Using Shakur for sparring isn’t the best method for Crawford, 37, to use to get him ready for a fight against the bigger, stronger, and younger Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs). Interestingly, Stevenson reported the news of his sparring to his followers on X immediately after the session instead of keeping quiet.

Good rounds today with the 🐐 @terencecrawford

— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) August 19, 2025

Crawford is jumping up two divisions from 154 to 168, and he needs all the help he can get from super middleweights, not lightweights. He chose not to take any tune-ups during his year off after his victory over Israil Madrimov in August 2024.

A Waste of Valuable Training Time

It’s a mistake for Crawford to waste valuable sparring time on a feather-fisted fighter like Shakur because he needs to use every minute of his training camps focusing on fighting guys that can prepare him for Canelo.

Sparring Shakur would have made sense in 2014 when he was still fighting at lightweight, but not now. It would be the same thing for Shakur. If he were getting ready for a talented lightweight like Andy Cruz, the last thing he would want is to bring the 186-lb Crawford into camp to mimic the fighting style of the talented Cuban. He couldn’t do it. Crawford is too big, slow, and old. He’s also not as technically talented as Cruz.