O’Shaquie Foster Seeks to Be More Than a Champion
One of the attention-grabbing performances of this year occurred on February 11 when O’Shaquie “Shock” Foster (20-2, 11 KOs) scored a dominant unanimous decision win over two-division world champion Rey Vargas to capture the vacant WBC junior lightweight title. Foster wants to carry the momentum of that win to become one of boxing’s elite fighters.
TURNING FEAR INTO FIRE
Foster has come up the hard way, overcoming many obstacles to become a world champion. One of those obstacles was nerves, before. During an interview with the news outlet Orange Ledger, the native of Orange, Texas said that with experience, he has a different mindset when he steps into the ring.
“Now, I get anxious. It’s like, ‘let’s do it’. If you are doing everything you are supposed to with the training and preparation, when you get to the fight, that is the easy part. That is the fun part. As long as you are training hard, grinding, and putting everything in the gym, then you will get to the fight and do what you need to do.”
FAR FROM SATISFIED
The win over Vargas was the biggest in the career of Foster. But some in the boxing community wonder if the 29-year-old is a one-hit wonder. Foster wants to prove the doubters wrong. Winning the WBC 130-pound title is the beginning of what he wants to accomplish.
“I dream big. I see myself being a multi-division champion. I see myself being a superstar in the next two years and being able to take over the sport, being in the pound for pound race. I’ve made history in the city, and I need to make it for the city.”
For Foster to reach his goals, he must put himself in a position to fight and defeat the best in and around his division. Up next for Shock is likely a title defense this fall against Eduardo Fernandez, the WBC number one contender at 130.
