“What you get from me is from him. I don’t get five championships without him ‘cause he guided me so much.” That’s what late NBA legend Kobe Bryant said in 2019 about his relationship with Michael Jordan. Though they never played on the same team and often faced off on the court, their bond resembled that of a big brother and little brother or mentor and mentee. However, the question is—does a similar dynamic exist between Shakur Stevenson and Floyd Mayweather?
Stevenson often gets compared to Floyd Mayweather because of the similarities in their fighting style—hit but don’t get hit. However, their connection is much deeper, with Mayweather often personally attending almost all of Shakur’s fights. Mayweather recognized Stevenson’s potential in the latter’s amateur days. He even wanted to sign the young boxer to his promotion, but it never happened. Stevenson chose to sign with Top Rank instead. Despite that, their relationship flourished, so much so that the WBC lightweight champion believes they are exactly like Bryant and Jordan.
Sharing a screenshot of his recent video call with Mayweather on X, the 28-year-old captioned the post “Kobe and Jordan.” He doubled down on the same sentiment on his Instagram story by sharing side-by-side clips of Mayweather and his own boxing matches, giving Mayweather the highest compliment as a mentor after beating William Zepeda in a title defense. Interestingly, they both won medals in the Olympics—Mayweather a bronze, and Stevenson a silver—although they did this eras apart. However, if Stevenson looked up to him so much, why didn’t he sign with Mayweather?
KOBE AND JORDAN pic.twitter.com/BilzRR2trz
— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) July 14, 2025
The key reason behind Stevenson opting to sign with Top Rank in 2017 was that Mayweather showed him a poster where his image was smaller than other fighters in the promotion, notably Gervonta Davis, Mayweather’s protégé at the time. Stevenson wasn’t sure whether he was a priority for Mayweather. Even though their paths diverged after this point, Stevenson maintained a respectful relationship with Mayweather and even received guidance from the boxing legend, which continues to this day, evident from Stevenson’s post.
Bryant and Jordan had a similar relationship—initially, Bryant, idolizing Jordan, tried to model his game after the Chicago Bulls legend. Even their relationship began with Bryant’s relentless pursuit of Jordan’s knowledge. At the beginning, Jordan found this annoying, but later grew to admire his work ethic and hunger. This led to a mentor-mentee relationship between them, as Jordan even shared his personal phone number with Bryant, a rare gesture.
Coming back to Stevenson and Mayweather, despite their strong bond today, who does Floyd Mayweather see as the best boxer at lightweight?
Floyd Mayweather makes a clear pick between Shakur Stevenson and Gervonta Davis
The undefeated retired boxing legend didn’t shy away from revealing his thoughts on who the most skilled fighter is between Gervonta Davis, his former star fighter, and Shakur Stevenson in a May 2024 interview with Come And Talk 2 Me. “The biggest puncher at 135 will probably be Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis,” Mayweather said confidently.
LAS VEGAS, NV – AUGUST 27: Floyd Mayweather speaking at the Induction Ceremony & Dinner for the 2022 Nevada Boxing Hall Of Fame at Resorts World Las Vegas in Las Vegas,Nevada, on August 27, 2022. PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxUSA Copyright: xDeeCeexCarterx
“But the more skillful fighter at 135 will be hands down Shakur Stevenson,” Mayweather added. Mayweather further backed Stevenson’s style, drawing a comparison to the late, great Pernell Whitaker. “Pernell Whitaker wasn’t a huge puncher, but he was… very exciting, very tough, and he fought everybody. Shakur is trying to do the same thing.”
There’s no denying that Shakur Stevenson and Floyd Mayweather do have the sort of relationship Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan once had. However, Bryant and Jordan were also competitive with each other, which is not possible for Mayweather and Stevenson. But what do you make of all this?
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