By Matt Lieberman: Shakur Stevenson will be making his official lightweight debut this Saturday night against unbeaten #4 WBC Shuichiro Yoshino in the headliner on Top Rank Boxing’s event at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, U.S. The Stevenson vs. Yoshino event will be shown live on ESPN and ESPN+ at 10:00 pm ET.
The former two-division world champion Stevenson (19-0, 9 KOs) is taking a tough first test at 135, taking on the powerful Yoshino (16-0, 12 KOs) in a fight that promises to have a lot of two-way action.
In the loaded undercard, former blue-chip amateur Keyshawn Davis faces Anthony Yigit, and undefeated heavyweight contender Jared Anderson fights George Arias.
In other undercard fights:
- Troy Isley vs. Roy Barringer
- Damian Knyba vs. Curtis Harper
- Bruce Carrington vs. Brandon Chambers
- Kelvin Davis vs. Nelson Morales
- Antoine Cobb vs. Jaylan Phillips
Shakur vs. Yoshino, how to watch?
Stevenson – Yoshino will be shown on ESPN & ESPN+ this Saturday night at 10:00 p.m. ET at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
“In my last fight, I wasn’t as focused as I am now,” said Shakur Stevenson to Top Rank Boxing about his fight against Shuichiro Yoshino on Saturday. “I feel like that was my fault.
“I can’t blame nobody else for me not making weight. That was my fault,” Shakur said about him coming in overweight for his title defense against Robson Conceicao last September.
“I didn’t have no arguments about that. I wanted to come back home as the unified champ and show off my belts. I knew how hard the weight was going to be to make. I apologize to any of my fans that I let down because I know the kind of pressure that I put on myself.
“I try to come in on weight all the time. This time, it just didn’t happen. I was trying to lose that weight for a long, long time. I didn’t think an extra hour was going to make a difference because I’d been doing it all week. At six in the morning the day before, I was going super hard for the weight.
“I was trying my best to get to the weight, and I just realized it wasn’t going to happen,” said Shakur.
“A lot of people don’t realize that ever since Shakur was thirteen and he got picked for the world team, every two and a half years, he’s gained weight and moved up in weight,” said Wali Moses, the head trainer for Shakur.
What time does Shakur vs. Yoshino start?
Shakur Stevenson faces Yoshino this Saturday, April 8th in an event that starts at 10:00 p.m. ET on ESPN & ESPN+ at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
“The weight gain now is part of his natural growth process that is going on. I think he’s more adjusted and feels much more comfortable not having to lose so much weight rather than going against his natural body. He’s doing pretty well,” said Moses about Shakur.
“I know that something like that will never happen again,” said Stevenson.
“Shakur Stevenson is the ultra competitor. He loves competition; he loves putting himself up against the best fighters in the world,” said Tim Bradley.
“Shakur could be one of the best of all time. Nobody has been able to hit this man. His skillset, the fact that he doesn’t get hit with shots, the fact that he isolates everyone inside the ring, and he’s going to be able to do and fight on his own terms.”
“He can’t wait to fight, and he’s ready to fight, and the camp has been going great,” said Moses about Stevenson. “I see a lot of things with his maturation, his strength, and everything. He’s doing pretty well right now at this point.”
“I feel like I’m the best fighter in the world. Conditioning is just the main part,” said Stevenson. “If a fighter comes in shape and they have all the skills, it’s going to be hard for anybody to beat them.
“That was the Floyd Mayweather recipe, and I feel like I have the same kind of style as far as real skillful, but the main thing is coming in shape and not letting and not letting anybody outwork you.
“I don’t think I’m the same person or fighter that I was,” said Shakur. “I’m getting a lot more disciplined and a lot more focused. Everything is more intense and focused and upped everything.
“I’m so much more focused where I’m taking everything super seriously. I’m not just getting away with my talent because, at times, I feel like I’m getting away with my talent. But now I feel I’m putting the discipline in with the talent.
“I look at it like it’s about time. I get to get my feet wet at 135, and after I get my feet wet, then I’m on to whichever one of them that wants to get the smoke with me,” said Shakur about the winner of the Devin Haney vs. Vasily Lomachenko fight on May 20th.
“You look at Shakur’s body and look at how he’s filling out. What that does suggest is a career path that goes through multiple divisions, multiple titles,” said Mark Kriegel.
“I could conquer the world. I’ve done a lot of amazing things when I’m on my A-game,” said Shakur. “I’m even more focused than I was in the last two or three years when I won these titles and unified the divisions. I wasn’t as focused as I am right now.
“Right now, it’s going to be a different type of level. It’s exciting, I can’t wait and a lot of money to be made,” said Stevenson about his bright future.
