Eddie Hearn is hinting at signing two American fighters, including a world champion. He said he’s talked with WBO light welterweight champion Shakur Stevenson and former lightweight champion Keyshawn Davis. Hearn says he doesn’t have either ready to sign yet.

All told, Hearn says he’s in talks with 7 total fighters. Shakur and Keyshawn, plus 2 unnamed fighters at the contract stage, plus three others.

Signing Keyshawn and Shakur would still create problems for Hearn, since they would want to be paid a boatload of money for their fights. Yeah, it would be great for Hearn to have those two talents, but with the costs, it could be a nightmare if their cards hemorrhage dough repeatedly. Neither of them are PPV draws.

Hearn wants Shakur to focus on becoming undisputed at light welterweight. He’s talked about him fighting champions Gary Antuanne Russell and Dalton Smith in addition to whoever winds up with the vacant IBF title.

He’s also interested in matching him against Raymond Muratalla, who may be the toughest of the bunch because of his size and power. That would be a tougher fight for Shakur than the ones he’d had thus far in the pro ranks. It wouldn’t be a shock to hear him drag his feet at accepting it, which could cost him his WBO title if he refuses.

Hearn wants to get the 2020 Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn fighting often, as he believes he’s wasting his career. Although he has already fought twice this year, they were fights that he used to get his feet wet at 140 against Nahir Albright and Jamaine Ortiz.

The Albright fight seemed totally needless, though, because he’d already beaten him in 2023. Running it back seemed weird and wasteful.

“Get on the horse, man. You’re wasting your career,” said Hearn to iFL TV about Keyshawn.

Well, if Hearn does sign Davis, he should put him back in with his four-time conqueror Andy Cruz. That’s a fight that he should have taken by now, given that he was soundly beaten by the Cuban talent in the 2020 Olympics.

Cruz has been calling him “My son” since he turned pro, trying to instigate a fight. Keyshawn has shown no desire to get back in the ring with him, which looks bad for him. Why fight the likes of Jamaine, Nahir and Miguel Madueno when you’ve got Cruz, a guy that beat you four times? It comes across like Keyshawn has a confidence issue holding him back. If that is the case, Hearn would be signing a problem.

“I don’t have anything at contractual stage with Shakur Stevenson or Keyshawn Davis, but I would love to sign both,” said Hearn in an interview with iFL TV. He confirmed he had spoken to both fighters and said he would like to work with their teams.

With Anthony Joshua getting old and nearing the end, and Andy Cruz’s contract with Matchroom coming to an end, Hearn needs new blood to replace them. Losing Cruz would be a disaster because he’s only now on the cusp of winning a world title, and unlike Joshua, he’s at the top of his game and still young.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtckseZAMpQ