Shakur Stevenson is a two-division world champion who’s quickly on the road to making that three.
As an amateur, Stevenson won the 2014 AIBA Youth World Championships and the Youth Summer Olympics before going to Rio 2016 and bringing home a silver medal.
He turned over to the paid ranks as a featherweight and beat Joet Gonzalez in his thirteenth fight to win the WBO world title.
From there, Stevenson promptly moved up to super-feather, beating Jamel Herring in 2021 for the WBO strap and adding the WBC one fight later against Oscar Valdez.
Now, he finds himself at the lightweight limit of 135lbs, but frustratingly without a dance partner following his inaugural fight in the division.
He believes the reason behind that is what his rivals have experienced in the gym against him.
Nah u right tho Fr.. I sparred a lot of these fighters before and that’s my biggest problem! https://t.co/roVji806gn
— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) August 8, 2023
Stevenson has sparred Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, Devin Haney, and Vasily Lomachenko to name a few. He’s done rounds with both Terence Crawford and heavyweight Jared Anderson, and is well-regarded as a great mind to have in the gym.
If these sessions mean some of his fellow lightweights don’t want to pick up the phone when Bob Arum of Top Rank calls, he’s managing to force his way to a world title.
The WBC have announced him as their mandatory challenger. Since Haney is moving up to super-lightweight in an attempt to become a two-weight champion, Stevenson will fight for the vacant belt.
Arum says Lomachenko – the current number one contender – is stepping away from the sport to return to Ukraine, so next on the list is Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz.
After him is Frank Martin, following by William Zepeda. Both are undefeated, and welcomed by Stevenson. Whoever ends up in the opposite corner, the Newark native will be competing for the world title next time out, slated for this November.