By Vince D’Writer: The highly anticipated lightweight debut of the former two-division world champion Shakur Stevenson occurred on April 8 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, and in the Top Rank Boxing main event, Shakur Stevenson stopped Shuichiro Yoshino (16-1, 12 KOs) in the sixth round.
Prior to Saturday night, the last time Shakur Stevenson was in competition, he was stripped of his unified WBC/WBO super featherweight title due to the fact that he weighed in 1.6 pounds over the 130-pound limit for his September 2022 bout with Robson Conceicao.
Despite his slip-up on the scale, Stevenson went on to defeat Conceicao by unanimous decision. After posting his 19th career victory, Shakur Stevenson officially announced he was moving up to the 135-pound division.
With the addition of Stevenson, the already talent-rich lightweight division became even more star-studded. Stevenson was being linked to multiple potential marquee matchups down the road, but the problem Shakur had, was securing an initial bout in his new weight class.
Former unified lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr and highly ranked contender Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz both turned down the opportunity to face Stevenson inside the squared circle. Finally, the undefeated #4 ranked WBC lightweight contender Shuichiro Yoshino agreed to a clash with Shakur Stevenson.
In the first round of the WBC title eliminator bout, Shakur Stevenson came out with an active lead hand as he used it to land the jab and the hook. Yoshino made an attempt to attack the body of Stevenson, but he was experiencing very little success.
With 1:17 remaining in the second round, Yoshino threw a jab, but Stevenson slipped the jab and landed a counter left that sent Yoshino down to the canvas. Yoshino was able to get up, but two rounds later, Stevenson landed a left-right combination that sent his opponent back down to the canvas.
Once again, Yoshino was able to rise to his feet, but he continued to absorb punishment from the razor-sharp Shakur Stevenson. In the sixth round of the bout, Stevenson continued to land at will, and after seeing Yoshino get hit with a solid uppercut, the referee decided to mercifully step in and put a halt to the contest.
With the victory, Shakur Stevenson (20-0, 10 KOs) looked extremely impressive in his lightweight debut. In the past, some of Stevenson’s critics spoke about his lack of power, but on Saturday night he looked pretty strong in his first bout as a lightweight.
Ever since his announcement in regards to moving up to the 135-pound division, Shakur Stevenson’s name has been linked to an undisputed lightweight title match. On May 20 the current undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney will defend his crown against Vasiliy Lomachenko.
It is believed that the winner of the Haney-Lomachenko clash will face Shakur Stevenson. If Haney was to defeat Lomachenko, some speculated Haney would move up to 140, but the Haney camp confirmed if Haney is victorious, he will stay at 135 to face Stevenson.
During a post-fight interview, Shakur Stevenson acknowledged the fact that Shuichiro Yoshino is a talented fighter and he will be able to do well against someone else. Stevenson also addressed the comment floating around in regards to Devin Haney staying at 135 to fight him.
“I ain’t know which direction I was gonna go in, but if Devin start talking crazy as I heard he was talking crazy saying he staying at 35 for me, so let’s do it. I mean, let’s make the fight happen. I’m ready; we can fight in Vegas, we can fight in New York, we can fight wherever you want to fight, I’m ready.”
