The boxing world is raving about Shakur Stevenson after his most recent win, with many branding him unbeatable, but there is one fighter who believes he will be avoided by the Newark southpaw at all costs.
Stevenson dethroned Teofimo Lopez to claim the WBO super-lightweight world title on Saturday night.
After being stripped of his WBC lightweight belt just days after, it remains unclear whether Stevenson will remain at 140 to defend his new strap or return to 135 without a title but with big fights still to make.
With plenty of options on the table, two-division world champion Tim Bradley picked out WBC super-featherweight ruler O’Shaquie Foster as the man who could provide Stevenson his toughest test.
“I’m going to tell you all, you might disagree with me, but a fighter that can get with Shakur, I’m not saying beat him, but can get with him on his level, his name is O’Shaquie Foster.
“Foster as far as notoriety, he’s not bigger than Teo, but as far as skill [he is]. O’Shaquie should be on the pound-for-pound list. O’Shaquie has a lot of what Shakur has with the distance, he got a fast jab too coming from the southpaw stance.
“The last fighter that beat Shakur Stevenson [in the amateurs] was a southpaw. O’Shaquie can switch to orthodox too, he’s big too. He’s got some size on him, some reach on him, got some pop on him.”
On the ‘Come and Talk 2 Me’ podcast – an interview which took place before Stevenson’s WBC belt was declared vacant – Foster said that Stevenson will steer clear of the 135lb division due to the threat of him stepping up from 130lbs and becoming his mandatory challenger.
“If he comes back to 135, I am going to make it happen, he isn’t going to have no choice. But, I guarantee you this, he will stay far away from me. I guarantee you that he won’t come back to 135.
“That is what he is going to do, I promise you. Why do you think he is talking about Conor Benn and ‘I just want big fights’, so whoopty woo because he knows that if he comes back to 135 then I am going to press that button and become the mandatory and we are going to see.”
If Stevenson remains at 140lbs, it is expected that Cuba’s WBC Interim lightweight champion Jadier Herrera will either be upgraded to full champion or fight for the vacant belt, with Foster being one possible candidate for the opposing corner.
