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By: Sean Crose
The plot thickens. Now that Gervonta Davis has knocked out Ryan Garcia – with a body shot, no less – people are looking for the Next. Big. Fight. Truth is, they’re going to get a pretty big one when undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney takes on former titlist Vasyl Lomachenko on May 20th in Las Vegas. Long story short – the winner of this match may end up squaring off against Davis in the near future. Yet there’s more than just Davis, Haney and Lomachenko who are hovering in and around the lightweight division, looking to be the last man standing once the dust settles. Former multi division titlist Shakur Stevenson is now a lightweight as well. And some are already calling him the best of the very talented bunch.
“They know I’m here. They’re just ignoring me,” Stevenson told FightHub regarding potential future competition. “I’m ready to fight whoever.” For a genuinely good natured type, Stevenson is one who has no problem telling people how he thinks it is, especially those who are critical. “Y’all don’t know nothing about boxing,” he said. “The media is bad.” As far as Stevenson sees it, he’s at a point in his career where he can face top notch competition…and fights with high caliber opponents don’t always come to crushing conclusions.
“When you find higher level appointments,” he continued, “it’s a lot harder for you to catch the knockouts.” And Stevenson doesn’t need a knockout victory in order to feel satisfied with his work. “All that matters is who at the end of the day is the winner,” he says. “They’re not going to remember if you knock him out, they’re going to remember you won.” After defeating Shuichiro Yoshino earlier this month, Stevenson appears aware of the fact that his future opponents may now be considered some of the best in the business.
“I gotta make sure that I’m on top of my game because there’s a lot of great fighters in the (lightweight) division,” he said. He then indicated that he plans on staying at lightweight for a while. “I’m a little 135,” he stated. “I’m not moving up anytime soon.” That, of course, can be very good news for Stevenson, as well as very bad news for his future opponents. The man simply has to stay at the top of his game regardless of who he might be facing – if, of course, he can. The lightweight division has some heavyweight competition within its ranks these days.
