Shakur Stevenson says he wants people to call him “the best fighter in the world” when they watch him defend his WBC lightweight title against Floyd Schofield on February 22 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 chance to expand his fan base by putting on a show and stealing the thunder of the main event between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
“The best in the world”
“I dominate. I don’t have close combat. You watch me go one, two, three, four, five, six laps, and then there comes a point when someone just wants to get it over with. “They want a knockout, or there’s going to be a lot of criticism for it,” Shakur Stevenson said. Secondsoutreacting to people criticizing his fighting style, labeling him as ‘boring’.
“I sit in my pocket a lot.” My last fight (Artem Harutyunyan), I was sitting in the pocket. If he comes in without a wreck, I’ll have to put him in his place,” Shakur said of Floyd Schofield. “I’m going to fight all those guys. I will fight Rian. I’ll fight Devin or Theo. Any of those guys. If those guys want to fight me, I’ll fight them.
“That 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 Feb. 22 in Riyadh. “I know I’m the best fighter in the world and I can’t wait to prove it,” Stevenson said.
It is not true that Shakur is “deep in the pocket” in his struggles. He only does this when faced with weak opposition. When he faces the opposition with talent and strength, 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 the bike for the entire 12-round fight and was booed by the fans.
The fighters that Shakur would like to fight are not interested in fighting him. He says he would like to fight Teofimo Lopez, Ryan Garcia and Devin Haynie. Those guys won’t fight him because he doesn’t engage and moves too much. That’s why Stevenson didn’t get a single bite from Gervonta Davis and Vasily Lomachenko.
“I would like to fight Tank. I would love to fight Gervonta Davis. I think it’s the biggest and best fight in boxing. “Whenever they want these big fights to happen, I’m ready to fight anybody and everybody,” Stevenson said.
Turki Al-Sheikh may be able to lure Tank to fight Shakur, but it will take a big offer to make that fight happen since there is no interest from Baltimore to fight him.
