Shakur Stevenson and Vasiliy Lomachenko recently had a run-in that has only added spice to a potential fight down the line.
Stevenson has long been claiming that the 36-year-old Ukrainian will do anything to avoid fighting him, but when they came face-to-face at a show in Los Angeles recently tensions boiled over and ‘Loma’ said afterwards that he would make the bout happen in the future.
They currently hold lightweight world titles – Shakur the WBC, Lomachenko to IBF – and present one of the most skillful match-up the sport of boxing can offer.
Both three-weight world champions, this is Lomachenko’s second stint as a titlist in the lightweight ranks after losing his unified belts to Teofimo Lopez back in 2020.
Speaking to ES News, Lopez backed his former opponent to beat the younger Stevenson should the fight happen.
“Loma beats Shakur? Yeah.”
In another interview with Cigar Talk, the Brooklyn native assessed what he feels is the issue with Stevenson’s approach to fights, which has been criticised for being less than entertaining.
“Shakur is a very talented, skilful, technique fighter. Can’t take anything away from that. However, he’s scared to get hit. Scared to get knocked out in front of the world. Scared to get touched up in front of the world.”
Lomachenko has confirmed that he won’t fight for the rest of the year but has ruled out retirement. In the meantime, Stevenson looks likely to face number one contender William Zepeda in his next outing.
