Shakur Stevenson is an American boxing prodigy who has acquired championship belts in two divisions across his six-year career. Unbeaten in twenty fights, Shakur is considered the best fighter in the super featherweight division, according to ESPN, BoxRec, and more. Even as an amateur, Shakur was able to grab the silver medal in the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Shakur has become successful with a style that utilizes his exceptional footwork, striking defense, and precise timing. Of his twenty victories, he has won ten by knockout.
Unfortunately for Shakur, he also got into an altercation that brought the law in previous years, delaying his rise to stardom. In the following paragraphs, we will go over the criminal record of the former two-division champion.
The Police Record of Shakur Stevenson
While the criminal record of Shakur Stevenson is by no means extensive, there is one particular incident that stands out. Criminal records can wreak havoc on a person’s ability to find work while also creating a long-standing blemish on the reputation of the individual, especially since they are easily accessible through lookup tools like this.
2018 Battery Charges
On July 1st, 2018, Shakur Stevenson was celebrating his birthday (June 28th) with fellow boxer David Grayton which was well documented on his socials and later through security footage. The earlier part of the night started innocently with a picture of him with artist Drake before the latter part of the evening resulted in both Shakur and Grayton attacking a group of people.
The police indicated that either Stevenson or Grayton had made passing lewd comments to a couple of women in a larger group, which erupted into an altercation. Video footage shows the two men arguing with the group before Stevenson throws a punch toward the male victim, inadvertently hitting a female bystander and the male in the process.
The groups then break apart, with a level-headed gentleman in a grey shirt trying to calm the altercation, which is then interrupted by one of the women starting to hit David Grayton. David Grayton then begins to batter the woman after she collapsed onto the ground while her male friend in a white sweatshirt tries to pull him off.
In response, both boxers begin to beat the man as he falls to the ground, adding a few shots after he has been knocked unconscious. Meanwhile, the woman on the ground begins to try to hit Grayton, who wrestles with her before another uninvolved female breaks the two apart. Stevenson then grabs Grayton, who both flee the scene.
Police later found both boxers in a hotel in Miami’s South Beach, where Stevenson had marks on his face while Grayton had a series of small lacerations around his knuckles. Police later confirmed reports by the victims through parking garage video cameras, which showed the entirety of the altercation.
Shakur was later arrested and charged with three counts of misdemeanor battery with one count of felony battery. After paying for the victim’s medical bills and reaching a deal in court, Shakur was able to get the charges dropped. This was under the condition that the boxer served one year of probation and fifty hours of community service.
Public Reaction to Charges
While those in the boxing community who had a better knowledge of the sport found the event distressing, many were more upset with the continued battering of a woman done by David Grayton. To the outside world, Shakur Stevenson was not yet the highly touted fighter that he has become in 2023.
Because of this, it went widely unheard by the rest of the world. Despite this, it was a dark moment for an otherwise exciting prospect who had no previous record of altercations nor any since. While he may be a controversial figure in sports due to his outspoken personality and social media presence, Shakur has shown no signs of repeated behavior.
This does not mean he hasn’t been close to potentially fatal controversy since the 2018 charges.
Shakur Stevenson has been a longtime friend of the rap group Migos and was beside rapper Takeoff when he was tragically shot and killed in a bowling alley in Houston, Texas. The shooting took place at 2:30 a.m., and footage shows Shakur next to the rapper before an argument broke out, which resulted in shots being fired.
While all reports and footage of the incident show Takeoff as an uninvolved witness, he was the only fatal victim of the event. The autopsy showed that he had been shot in the head and torso.
Shakur Stevenson in 2023
Since the battery charges, Shakur has continued to excel in boxing and accumulated an impressive 20 – 0 record. In his professional career, he has gone on to win four belts and held titles in two divisions.
In 2021, he gave birth to his first daughter and has since gotten engaged.
More recently, he has been stripped of his belts without actually losing a fight. In September of 2022, the fighter weighed in over the limit for a bout with Robson Conceicao, which resulted in his belts being removed. He has since moved up in weight, stating that his body “simply can’t make the weight anymore.”
At 26, Shakur has shown a renewed focus on his career and is distancing himself from previous mistakes. His last fight was in April of 2023, which ended in a sixth-round TKO against Shuichiro Yoshino.
