Shakur Stevenson says he wants to be called the “best fighter in the world” by people when they watch him defend his WBC lightweight title against Floyd Schofield on the February 22nd card next month in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The fight will be shown live on DAZN PPV, and many fans will be watching. This is Shakur’s big opportunity to expand his fanbase by putting on a show and stealing the thunder from the main event between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
“Best In The World”
“I dominate. I don’t have close fights. You watch me go up one, two, three, four, five, six rounds, and then it comes a point where someone just wants to end it. They want a knockout, or there’s going to be a lot of criticism with it,” said Shakur Stevenson to Secondsout, reacting to the people who criticize his fighting style, labeling him as ‘boring.’
“I sit in the pocket a lot. My last fight [Artem Harutyunyan], I sat in the pocket. If he comes wreckless, I’m going to have to put him in his place,” Shakur said about Floyd Schofield. “I’ll fight all of those guys. I’ll fight Ryan. I’ll fight Devin or Teo. Any of those guys. If those guys want to fight me, I’ll fight them.
“That I’m the best fighter in the world,” said Shakur when asked what he wants people to say about him when he fights Schofield on February 22nd in Riyadh. “I know I’m the best fighter in the world, and I can’t wait to prove it,” said Stevenson.
It’s not true that Shakur sits in “the pocket a lot” in his fights. He only does that when he’s facing weak opposition. When he’s facing opposition with talent and power, he never stays in the pocket, which is why he’s criticized.
In Stevenson’s last fight against Artem Harutyunyan, he stayed in the pocket because he was weak and slow. In his match before that against Edwin De Los Santos, Stevenson was on his bike the entire 12-round fight and was booed by the fans.
The fighters that Shakur would like to fight aren’t interested in fighting him. He says he would like to fight Teofimo Lopez, Ryan Garcia, and Devin Haney. Those guys aren’t going to fight him because he doesn’t engage and moves too much. That’s why Stevenson hasn’t gotten a nibble from Gervonta Davis and Vasily Lomachenko.
“I would love to fight Tank. I would love to fight Gervonta Davis. I think that’s the biggest and the best fight to make in the sport of boxing. Anytime they want to make these big fights happen, I’m ready to fight anybody and everybody,” said Stevenson.
Turki Al-Sheikh could possibly lure Tank into fighting Shakur, but it’s going to take a big offer for that fight to happen because there’s no interest on the Baltimore native’s part in fighting him.
2025-01-13 06:40:05
