Fighter profile: Shakur Stevenson
Fighter profile: Shakur Stevenson
At just 24, Shakur Stevenson is one of the dominant names in featherweight boxing and already holds two belts – the WBO junior lightweight title and the WBO featherweight title.
His full name is Ash-Shakur Nafi-Shahid Stevenson and in October 2021, he was chosen as the world’s best junior lightweight by The Ring magazine.
Background
Stevenson was born in Newark, New Jersey and is the eldest of nine siblings.
He was raised by his mother Malikah and stepfather Shahid Guyton, with his Puerto Rican father not being part of Shakur’s life.
Stevenson started boxing aged five when his grandfather got him into it.
In July 2018, Stevenson was arrested and charged with misdemeanour assault, but the charges were dropped a year later after a year of probation and 50 hours of community service.
Career
Stevenson had great success at youth level, winning both Alba Youth World Championships and the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics.
A year later, he qualified for the senior Olympic squad in Rio de Janeiro and went on to win a silver medal, losing to Cuban Robeisy Ramirez in the gold medal match.
A year after Olympic success, Stevenson turned professional, signing with Top Rank and immediately hiring Andre Ward as his manager.
His career has grown incredibly in such a short space of time, winning all 17 of his professional fights to date, nine of which by knockout.
On October 26, 2019, he won by unanimous decision against Joet Gonzalez to take the WBO featherweight title.
His most recent fight, against Jemel Herring on October 23, 2021, at State Farm Arena in Atlanta saw him take the other of his two belts – the WBO junior lightweight title.
What next?
Stevenson does not have a fight confirmed, but he does have an obvious option, a clash with Oscar Valdez.
Valdez controversially defeated Robson Conceicao and a unifying fight between Stevenson and Valdez seems likely, with Valdez holding the WBC belt.
Neither fighter has a mandatory fight due and it appears to be the biggest fight available for both fighters, who incidentally are both Top Rank fighters which makes it even more likely to happen.
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