WBO super featherweight champion Shakur Stevenson says he’s not going to let WBC champion Oscar Valdez hit him back when the two of them fight next month in a two-belt unification match on ESPN+ at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Shakur (17-0, 9 KOs) has no intention of getting involved in exchanges with the hard-hitting Valdez (30-0, 23 KOs) in this fight. He says what he plans on doing is fighting him like he did WBO 130-lb champion Jamel Herring last October.
In that fight, Stevenson would drop his bombs and then either lean back or pull away to prevent the tall 5’10” Herring from connecting with his hard shots. While it was boring at times, it wasn’t nearly as dull as Shakur’s previous fight against Jeremiah Nakathila.
That was a fight that resulted in the ringside crowd booing Stevenson during much of the second half due to his focus on retreating each time he would throw a shot.
The fans want to see fighters that are capable of staying in the pocket at least some of the time, but that’s not what Shakur wanted to do against the heavy-handed Nakathila.
Valdez may need to chase Stevenson if he chooses to retreat after every blow he throws on April 30th because he’s made it clear that he won’t stay in the pocket against him.
Stevenson says Valdez NOT skillful
“I think he’s a tough rugged fighter. I don’t know about skillful. I don’t think he’s that skillful,” said Shakur Stevenson to Fight Hub TV. “He’s tough and don’t take no for an answer, so I got to beat it out of him.
“I’ve watched him against other skillful fighters. I watched him against Adam Lopez and Robson Conceicao. They outskilled him, but the things that carried him over to win those fights, which I think they stopped the Adam Lopez fight a little early.
“The thing that carried him [Lopez] over was his will and him trying to be tough and trying to out-rugged the guy. I’m tough too. I’m not going anywhere. I’m bigger than him, stronger than him, faster than him. I’m just an overall better fighter,” said Stevenson.
There’s no point in Shakur needing to try and devalue Valdez to give himself a confidence boost for the fight.
The way Stevenson talks, he sounds terribly insecure, as if he needs to discredit his opponents in hopes of feeling better about his chances of winning.
If Stevenson is as good as he says he is, he shouldn’t feel the need to disparate Valdez and his other opponents.
Obviously, Valdez has talent, and it’s a waste of Shakur’s time to belittle him.
If Oscar lacked talent as Stevenson says, he wouldn’t be 30-0, and would have never captured two-division world titles and fought in two Olympics.
“I’m a special talent,” said Shakur when asked what will carry him over to victory against Oscar Valdez. “I got heart, and I’m an all-around talent. I can fight him on the inside, fight him on the outside.
“If I fight him on the inside, I don’t mean, I hit him, he hits me. I mean, I’m going to break him down on the inside. I’m a good inside fighter. I’m not going to do what those dudes did. I felt like they weren’t in shape sometimes.
“Later on in the fight, he was in better condition and shape, and that carried him over. I come in shape every fight, and I fight all 12 rounds if I have to. If not, I’ll get him out of there. This is a whole different fight.
Shakur won’t fight Oscar toe-to-toe
“I don’t want to do that,” said Shakur when asked if he wants to go toe-to-toe with Valdez. “I want to be offensive, but there’s a difference between being offensive and exchanging with somebody,” said Stevenson.
For the sake of the fans, hopefully, Stevenson at least stays in the pocket some of the time because he’s going to anger people if he uses his pull-back style of fighting the entire 12 round contest against Valdez.
“In exchanges, you hit me and I hit you. I’m offensive and dominant is what I was doing with Jamel [Herring]. Jamel wasn’t getting none back. He had to earn every shot.
“When I go in there with Valdez, I want to have the same kind of performance and probably even better. I’ve seen myself a lot sharper than I was against Jamel. A lot of people didn’t see that side of me yet. I’ll probably be a lot better against Valdez.
“In this fight, I want to be fully in control the whole time. I don’t want to be forced to fight. I want to go in there and take over and dominate and fight when I want to fight,” said Shakur.
