Initially, the move to 130 pounds was more of a warning. Having won the WBO featherweight title against Joet Gonzalez in October 2019, Shakur Stevenson envisioned a long and dominant reign. But, with the former Olympic silver medalist growing rapidly, he would make his 130-pound debut less than seven months later.
So far, Stevenson’s supernatural abilities have translated perfectly into his second weight class. With back-to-back wins over Jamel Herring and Oscar Valdez, the 25-year-old now reigns supreme as the division’s sole unified champion.
Currently, in what will be the first defense of his WBC and WBO titles, Stevenson (18-0, 9 KOs) will face Robson Conceicao on September 23. While he is eager to return to the ring, Stevenson admits his time at 130 pounds could be short lived.
“It all depends on the weight cut at the end of the day,” Stevenson said during an interview with Thaboxingvoice. “I already did (I did) amazing things at 130 pounds. My last two fights to be specific I did shows and I did it a lot at weight so if I struggle with the weight cut and it’s hard for me I think I’m going to go up to 135. Tell you guys get ready.
If Stevenson emerges victorious against Conceicao and moves forward with a potential trip to the lightweight division, he could face some of the biggest names in all of boxing.
Currently, Gervonta Davis, Vasiliy Lomachenko, someone Stevenson has recently been linked with, and Devin Haney all chair toward the top of the lightweight division. Under most circumstances, Stevenson has shown a propensity to call out whoever is considered the best fighter in his given weight class. However, the skillful southpaw refuses to do so this time. Instead, Stevenson reveals that matchups against all the top 135-pound fighters is what he craves the most.
“I’m not going to say names, I want the best. I don’t want to sit down and pick or fight those fighters who are not at the highest level.”
