Via Brian Webber: Shakur Stevenson says he wants to defend his WBC/WBO ultralightweight title against Vasyl Lomachenko in early 2023.
Lomachenko will return from the fight in his homeland and will fight in October against an opponent yet to be determined. Shakur will defend his two 130lb belts against Robson Conceição (17-1, 8 KOs) on September 23 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Stevenson (18-0.9 KOs) wants former three-division world champion Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KOs) to drop to 130 to challenge him.
It’s been a risky fight for Stevenson because he’s never fought anyone close to Lomachenko’s level of talent, and he may not be ready for that step up in the class.
Shakur feels that two-time Olympic gold medalist Lomachenko isn’t fighting at his “natural weight” right now, as he’s campaigning at the age of 135. Lomachenko lost to Teofimo Lopez in 2020 in a game where he was greatly outperformed by the New Yorker. .
Teofimo, who has always been massive for a light person, looks like a 154-pound person after rehydrating the night of the fight.
Of course, some feel that Shakur Stevenson is a natural underweight and that he only fights in the ultralight because he has a size advantage over the smaller fighters in that division.
We saw Shakur’s size advantage in his final matchup against 130-lb WBC champion Oscar Valdez last April.
“We can do that fight at any time. He’s a big enough name,” Shakur Stevenson told Thaboxingvoice when asked if he wants to fight Vasyl Lomachenko.
“He’s a big name, and he’s on the pound-for-pound charts. You have to respect him for that. We can make that war happen early next year.
I’ve got a rack on my head but there’s a risk to collecting
– Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) July 16, 2022
“We don’t have the same weight right now,” Stevenson said of him and Lomachenko. I’m pretty sure I’m a champion right now. He’s probably down to 130 right now, and it’s going to be a huge fight.
“I feel like 135 is not his natural weight,” Shakur talks about Lomachenko. “130 seems like a more realistic weight class to him. We have the same size anyway.
“I am very confident in myself. They say, ‘He’s complacent.’ I don’t care because I feel like I can beat anyone; I don’t care who it is. They can ask me anyone on planet earth; I will tell you that I can beat them because I can find a way to win.
“Jared was a very important part of getting my training camps ready because he came here and really motivated me. Sometimes Jared and I quarrel, and I fight with him. We help each other become better.
“Being around him, I see the little things he does, and I take it from him. He is around me, you can see him trying to take some of my things.
“We push each other to be better. You don’t want to be in the gym with no other particular boxer there and you’ll learn from watching that person,” Shakur said.
