By Chris Williams: Shakur Stevenson says he wants to fight Ryan Garcia and use him as an opponent to transform himself into a pay-per-view superstar.
Stevenson, 24, says for his plan to work, Ryan must keep winning because it won’t help his career if he gets beaten along the way before he faces him.
The undefeated 2016 Olympic silver medalist Stevenson (18-0, 9 KOs) feels that with Kingry Garcia’s massive fanbase on social media and his being Mexican, he can catapult himself into becoming a PPV star by facing him.
We saw Floyd Mayweather Jr become a pay-per-view star when he fought Oscar De La Hoya in 2007, and Manny Pacquiao became a massive PPV star after facing the ‘Golden Boy’ in 2008.
In the same way, Shakur could become a similar PPV star if he faces Ryan Garcia. It could work for Stevenson if Ryan stayed undefeated, which is unlikely, and if he were interested in battling him. Thus far, Stevenson isn’t a fighter Ryan has mentioned wanting to face.
If Ryan (23-0, 19 KOs) isn’t talking about wanting to fight Stevenson, it means he’s not a popular enough target for him to make money. Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, a genuine pay-per-view star, is who Ryan wants, as it’s a win-win fight for him.
Even if Ryan loses, he’ll still make a boatload of money from the match, and the downside won’t be harmful because Gervonta is a massive talent.
“Ryan Garcia is doing what he’s doing because of the fact that he’s got a big fanbase and he’s Mexican,” said Shakur Stevenson to Fighthype.
“That would make for a fight where even the public that don’t know nothing about boxing or all the little model fans and the girls that watch that watch him, they’re going to be tuned into me and Ryan fighting.
“I could become a big star way outside of boxing,” said Shakur about his belief that he could be transformed into a huge star by fighting Ryan Garcia.
“I think Ryan is a great fighter. I’m not going to say nothing bad about Ryan. He’s somebody I could fight where I could turn into a pay-per-view superstar.
“All he’s got to do is keep winning, and even if he do lose, he’s got to bounce back and just make his name sound out there. He’s got to have a good name out there for himself,” said Shakur.
Stevenson will be defending his WBC/WBO super featherweight titles against Robson Conceicao (17-1, 8 KOs) next on September 23rd at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
“I got to prepare to fight the best Robson Conceicao because Conceicao almost tripped the money up for Oscar Valdez,” said Stevenson about his next fight on September 23rd. “I’m not about to go in there and let him trip money over me.
“You got to prepare for the best Conceicao that you’re preparing for. I can’t look at it like, ‘I’m not going to get my credit.’ I know I’m not going to get my credit. I’m not going to get credit for a lot of people.
“A lot of the time people put high standards on me. I just got to do what I do, and go in there and make people look like I’ve been making them look,” said Shakur.
