Shakur Stevenson says he’ll make a good fighter look silly
On one hand, “Fearless” Shakur Stevenson (14-0, 8 KO’s) is too humble and pragmatic to declare himself a pound for pound fighter. On the other hand however, the WBO #1 ranked super featherweight fully believes he is a monster in the ring. It will just take time and further conquests before he can claim the elite accolades of the sport. Furthermore, regardless of who slides through the ring straps, in his opinion he will emerge victorious.
So it should come as no surprise that Stevenson had little problem extending praise to his next opponent Toka “T-Nice” Clary (28-2, 19 KO’s). As Fearless explained in a recent virtual media round table, he has been aware of Clary since the amateurs. Yet, despite respecting T-Nice’s boxing prowess, Stevenson maintained a cool confidence that he will make the fight easy work.
“I knew of Toka since I was an amateur coming up and he would go into Olympic trials and all that kind of stuff. So I knew of Toka…”
“I think that real boxers, and people like me, we understand that he [Clary] is a good fighter. It ain’t like you getting in there with a scrub, I know that he is a real good fighter. I think that is really my opinion of it, but it don’t really matter how good he is or what he going to bring. I’m going to make him look a certain way and people are going to have their opinion of him regardless.”
ME VERSUS ME
Assuming that the New Jersey native is successful on December 12, and most are, he will go searching for the biggest fights available. The first item on his hit list will be getting the winner of WBO world super featherweight champion Jamel “Semper Fi” Herring (22-2, 10 KO’s) versus Carl “The Jackal” Frampton (28-2, 16 KO’s). Those two have yet to issue a fight date.
Stevenson, as the WBO #1 super featherweight, has first dibs on the winner. Yet, even as he edges toward a second world title, Fearless remembers to try to keep everything as simple as possible. For him, he just wants to keep improving as a fighter and impressing his own inner circle.
“I don’t think I’m at that point where I’m going to just say I’m the pound for pound best fighter in the world. But I’m competitive, so I do like to compete, but at the end of the day I am more focused on performing to myself, my family, my friends and all that kind of stuff. I’m competitive but I ain’t looking at their performances and judging.”
By: Bakari Simpson
