Shakur Stevenson has been friends with rising heavyweight prospect, Jared Anderson, for a number of years. It’s lesser known that the former unified super-featherweight champion has been sparring the six-foot-four knockout artist.
Stevenson claimed the WBO 130lb title in October 2021, knocking out Jamel Herring in the tenth round before defeating Oscar Valdez for the WBC title just six months later.
Last year, the Olympic Silver Medallist lost his belts on the scales, missing weight ahead of his defence against Robson Conceicao, which prompted a move up to lightweight.
The 25-year-old made his 135lb debut in stylish fashion, stopping undefeated Japanese lightweight Shuichiro Yashino by sixth-round knockout
That will have come as no surprise to his camp considering he had been sparring potentially one of the biggest punchers in the sport.
In a video released by Top Rank, Stevenson shared his high expectations of the heavyweight prospect, sharing his belief that he will develop into a dominant champion.
“He got a little bit crazy, so I tried to calm him down, because at the end of the day I’m older than him.
He is younger than me and I already know that he is a special talent. You get to see certain fighters in the gym, and once you’ve seen them in the gym you already know what type of fighter they are going to be.”
“In years to come he is going to be so dominant, all he needs to do is stay focused.”
Anderson has revealed his intentions to win a title, earn some money and retire, rather than chase a legacy in the sport. Fans, though, will want him to stick around for as long as possible.
As for Stevenson, he will have a keen eye on the undisputed lightweight clash between Devin Haney and Vasiliy Lomachenko next weekend, with promoter Bob Arum supposedly lining the Newark-born fighter up to take on the winner.