Shakur Stevenson thrust his name into pound-for-pound contention with a statement victory over Teofimo Lopez on Saturday night, and the Newark-born superstar has declared his belief that there is only one active fighter on the same level as him.
Stevenson’s victory saw him become the third-youngest four-division world champion in boxing history, with the 28-year-old getting his hands on the WBO super-lightweight world title without hardly breaking a sweat.
As a result, Stevenson is now in consideration as one of the sport’s pound-for-pound best, especially considering recent frailties shown by the previously flawless Naoya Inoue, as well as the retirement of arguable pound-for-pound number one, Terence Crawford.
However, without becoming undisputed, as the likes of Inoue, Dmitry Bivol, Canelo Alvarez, Devin Haney and Artur Beterbiev have, it is tough to argue how Stevenson can sit above them all in the rankings.
Yet, in an interview with Cigar Talk, Stevenson revealed that he sees himself as the ‘best fighter on the planet’, with unified heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk being the only active boxer that is on his level.
“I am number one, to me, the best fighter on the planet. The only other fighter that I see in boxing right now that I see and think [he is on my level is] Usyk, that is at – the art of hitting and don’t get hit at the same time – boxing.”
Fight fans are awaiting Stevenson’s next move, as the reigning WBC lightweight and WBO super-lightweight champion considers which weight to defend his belt at, or whether he should move up to welterweight and seek world honours in a fifth division.
