Two-weight world champion Shakur Stevenson is not afraid to voice his opinions on other fighters, regardless if they are in and around his weight class or not.
Saul ‘Canelo’ Álvarez, Errol Spence Jr and even former heavyweight world champion Anthony Joshua have all been on the receiving end of some criticism from Stevenson in the past, and this week another addition was made to that list.
Newly crowned WBO super-welterweight world champion Tim Tszyu is earning a reputation as one of the emerging stars in the sport, having stopped Tony Harrison and Carlos Ocampo in his his last two outings.
However, in a recent interview with Mill City Boxing, Stevenson revealed he believes Brian Mendoza will pull off an upset win over Tszyu this weekend, describing the Australian as “nothing too special.”
“He [Mendoza] is a great fighter, I like him.“
“I think he beats Tim Tszyu. I’m not a big Tim Tszyu fan. I really ain’t see nothing too special about Tim Tszyu. He kinda proved me wrong with Tony Harrison so maybe he’s a little bit better than what I think.”
A victory over Tszyu would be the second huge upset pulled off by Mendoza in as many fights, after he stopped the towering Sebastian Fundora last time out to claim the WBC interim world title.
However, ‘The Soul Taker’ represents yet another step up in class and is expected by most observers to get the job done in good fashion front of a partisan crowd on the Gold Coast.
Should Tszyu make a successful defence, he’ll be eyeing up fights with Jermell Charlo and Terence Crawford down the line.