By Brian Webber: Former two-division world champion Shakur Stevenson is getting a “restart” in a new weight class this Saturday night when he makes his debut at lightweight against Shuichiro Yoshino.
Shakur is moving up to lightweight after losing his WBC, WBO & Ring Magazine super featherweight titles on the scales when he came in overweight for his title defense against Robson Conceicao last September.
For Stevenson (19-0, 9 KOs), it’s a strange experience because he’s belt-less and starting over from scratch, and he’s not talked about as much as he had been when he held world titles at 126 and 130.
The 135-lb division is loaded with talent and popular fighters, so Shakur must prove himself all over again, but it’s going be more difficult to do it at lightweight because the big names like Gervonta Davis, Devin Haney, Vasily Lomachenko, and Ryan Garcia already have fights mapped out.
Given that the 2016 Olympic silver medalist Stevenson is the new kid on the block at lightweight, he will likely need to force a title shot by going the mandatory route.
Shakur already called out all the top dogs at 135 with no luck and even tried the regular contenders, Geeorge Kambosos Jr, Isaac Cruz, and William Zepeda, but got no takers.
The WBC originally ordered Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz to face Stevenson in a lightweight title eliminator, but he declined. Kambosos Jr and Zepeda also turned down the fight with Shakur. Finally, Yoshino accepted the fight
Stevenson must be content to face #4 WBC Yoshino (16-0, 12 KOs) this Saturday, April 8th, in the main event on ESPN at the Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
“It’s like a restart. It’s weird because they respect you at a whole different level when you’re a champion. When I was champion down there, I was on pound-for-pound [lists] and all this stuff,” said Shakur Stevenson to The Post.
“Lately, you don’t hear nobody say pound-for-pound when it comes to my name, just because I don’t have the belts anymore and I moved up to a new division.
“It don’t mean nothing once you don’t have a belt anymore. It’s like you’re not nobody. I just think the fans forget, and the boxing world forgets. It’s time to wake them back up; that’s all it is,” said Stevenson.
If Stevenson wins on Saturday against Yoshino, he can force undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney to face him.
However, Haney will likely move up to 140 after he defends against Vasily Lomachenko on May 20th and potentially fights the Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia winner.
Shakur will likely wind up fighting for the WBC lightweight title after it’s vacated by whoever holds it when the smoke clears this year.