At 27-years-old, Shakur Stevenson has plenty ahead of him in the sport of boxing.
The three-weight world champion is, by Compubox numbers, one of the least hittable fighters in the game. That defensive mastery that embodies the ‘hit and don’t get hit’ mantra has led him to 22 wins and zero losses, highlights including Jamel Herring, Oscar Valdez and Robson Conceicao.
Stevenson currently holds the WBC World Title in the lightweight ranks. He picked up the vacant belt with a win over Edwin De Los Santos and has made one successful defence against Artem Harutyunyan.
Currently sidelined with a hand injury, Stevenson is determined to return to the ring in February 2025 to face number one contender William Zepeda. Should he win, he has his sights firmly set on unification bouts.
Whilst the ‘Tank’ Davis fight looks likely to happen at some point, Stevenson is holding out no hope to face Ukraine’s Lomachenko.
The 36-year-old picked up the vacant IBF belt earlier this year when he defeated George Kambosos Jr. He entered into talks with Davis but then pulled out due to a lack of motivation. His promoter Bob Arum at first assured fans that he was not retired before more recently admitting that it could be a possibility.
Stevenson took to social media this week to call for his fellow champion to hang up the gloves, believing that he is no longer interested in making top fights.
“Retire. He’s not trying to be in no big fights, so why be in the sport?”
In a recent interview with Boxing News, doubled down on the opinion.
“I’m kinda over it. I think he’s soft. At that last fight he pushed up on me and was talking kinda reckless but then he don’t want to get in a boxing ring and square off. I have respect for him for what he done in the sport of boxing, but lately I lost a lot of respect for him … I don’t even see the point of him boxing if he’s not gonna fight me or Tank. What’s the point? What are you doing?”
Lomachenko is also a three-division champion in the pro ranks after being one of the most successful amateurs the sport has ever seen. He is considered by many as one of the most skillful fighters both of his era and in history. He is currently in his home country aiding the efforts against the Russian invasion.
