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 22 card next month in Riyadh, Arabia Saudi.
The fight will be shown live on DAZN PPV, and many fans will be watching. This is Shakur’s great opportunity to expand his fanbase by putting on a show and stealing the throne from the main event between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
“The best in the world”
“I dominate. I don’t have close fights. You watch me go one, two, three, four, five, six rounds, and then there comes a point where someone just wants to finish. They want a knockout, or there will be a lot of criticism with him,” he said Shakur Stevenson at secondsoutreacts to people who criticize his fighting style, labeling it as “boring”.
“I’m in the pocket a lot. My last fight (Artem Harutyunyan), I sat in the pocket. If he comes without a wreck, I’m going to put him in his place,” Shakur said about Floyd Schofield. “I’ll fight all 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.
“I’m the best fighter in the world,” Shakur said when asked what he wants people to say about him when he fights Schofield on February 22 in Riyadh. “I know I’m the best fighter in the world, and I can’t wait to prove myself,” Stevenson said.
It is not true that Shakur is in “the pocket a lot” in his fights. He only does this when faced with weak opposition. When he faces the opposition with talent and power, he never stays in the pocket, which is why he is 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 whole fight 12 times and was booed by the fans.
The fighters Shakur wanted to fight weren’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 move too much. That’s why Stevenson didn’t get a nibble from Gervonta Davis and Vasily Lomachenko.
“I would love to fight Tank. I would love to fight Gervonta Davis. I think it’s the biggest and best fight to do in the sport of boxing. Whenever they want to make these big fights happen, I’m ready to fight anyone and everyone,” said Stevenson .
Turki Al-Sheikh could possibly lure Tank to fight Shakur, but it would take a big offer for that fight to happen because there is no interest on the part of the Baltimore native in fighting him.
