Shakur Stevenson is a hugely talented boxer but one that divides opinion.
The current lightweight champion is a defensive master who has held titles in two other divisions. He picked up the vacant WBC belt with a unanimous decision win over the hard-hitting Edwin De Los Santos last year and followed it up with a routine points win over Artem Harutyunyan earlier this month.
For the second fight in a row, fans were left disappointed with Stevenson’s safety-first approach and even his close friend Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford had some direct feedback, though Stevenson has said that Harutyunyan was there to survive which made it hard for him to impress.
This past weekend, he spoke about a fellow much-hyped talent in welterweight belt holder Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis after he brushed aside the challenge of David Avanesyan at home in Philadelphia to defend his IBF title.
Stevenson was asked by FightHub who would win in a fight between ‘Boots’ and Crawford.
“I’m not answering that. I love my big brother ‘Bud’. I think he’s a hella of a fighter, I think ‘Boots’ is the future of boxing, two hella god fighters.”
He was however confident that Ennis will go on to pick up all four major belts in his current division, which is a feat Crawford already accomplished last year.
“Undisputed, yeah, ain’t nobody at 147 can beat him.”
There is now even more clamour for Ennis and Crawford to meet in the ring, though next up for Crawford is a first fight at 154lbs when he takes on WBA Super-Welterweight Champion Israil Madrimov. Saudi Arabia’s Turki Alalshikh has stated he wants ‘Boots’ to move up and face Crawford when the time is right.
