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Shakur Stevenson says he wants to be called “the best fighter in the world” by people when they watch him defend his WBC lightweight title against Floyd Schofield on the February 22 card next month in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The fight will be shown live on DAZN PPV and many fans will be watching. This is Shakur's big opportunity to expand his fan base by putting on a show and stealing the thunder from the main event between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
“The best in the world”
“I dominate. I have no close combats. You watch me go up one, two, three, four, five, six rounds and then there comes a point where somebody just wants to end it. They want a knockout or there's going to be a lot of criticism with it,” Shakur Stevenson told the Secondsoutresponding to people criticizing his fighting style, calling it “boring”.
“I sit in the pocket a lot. My last fight (Artem Harutyunyan), I was sitting in the pocket. If he comes in helpless, I'm going to have to put him in his place,” Shakur said of Floyd Scofield. “I'm going to fight all these guys. I'll fight Ryan. I'll fight Devin or Theo. Any of these guys. If these guys want to fight me, I'll fight them.
“That I'm the best fighter in the world,” Shakur said when asked what he wants people to say about him when he fights Scofield on Feb. 22 in Riyadh. “I know I'm the best fighter in the world and I can't wait to prove it,” Stevenson said.
It is not true that Shakur sits “very in the pocket” in his fights. He only does this when faced with weak opposition. When facing opposition with talent and strength, he never stays in the pocket, which is why he's criticized.
In Stevenson's last fight against Artem Harutyunyan, he stayed in the pocket because he was weak and slow. In his match before that against Edwin De Los Santos, Stevenson was on his bike throughout the 12-round fight and was booed by the fans.
The fighters that Shakur would like to fight aren't interested in fighting him. He says he would like to fight Teofimo Lopez, Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney. These guys won't fight him because he doesn't commit and moves too much. That's why Stevenson hasn't been bitten by Jervonta Davis and Vasyl Lomachenko.
“I'd like to fight Tank. I would like to fight Gervonta Davis. I think this is the biggest and best fight in the sport of boxing. Whenever they want to make these big fights, I'm ready to fight anyone and everyone,” Stevenson said.
Turki Al-Sheikh could potentially get Tank to fight Shakur, but it would take a big offer to make that fight happen because there is no interest on the part of the Baltimore native to fight him.
