Shakur Stevenson (20-0, 10 KOs) says the power he displayed last Saturday night against Shuichiro Yoshino (16-1, 12 KOs) was a product of him moving up in weight to 135 and no longer needing to cut as much weight as he’d done at 130 & 126.
Stevenson looked like another fighter in terms of punching power, dropping Yoshino in rounds two & four and pummeling him in the sixth to force the referee Allen Huggins to step in and stop the contest at the 1:35 mark at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
The newfound power that the former two-division world champion Stevenson displayed is bad news for Devin Haney because he’s now his WBC mandatory for his undisputed lightweight crown after beating Yoshino.
Haney is currently busy defending next month against Vasily Lomachenko on May 20th, but if the World Boxing Council orders the fight next, Devin will need to face Shakur or vacate his WBC belt and look weak in the eyes of the fans.
“I felt strong. I didn’t have to cut so much weight, so I was able to sit down on my punches,” said Shakur Stevenson to the media following his win over Shuichiro Yoshino last Saturday night in Newark, New Jersey.
“For sure, he felt my ring strength. He felt my power. He ate his words because when he said that, he didn’t realize that you can’t say that about someone you’ve never been in the ring with. He never been in the ring with me for him to say that,” said Shakur about Yoshino, who had said before the fight that Stevenson couldn’t punch.
“Much respect for him for taking the fight. No,” said Shakur when asked if he would have preferred to go more rounds with Yoshino. “I would have preferred to catch that big knockout. That’s what I would have preferred. I didn’t really need the rounds. I already got a lot of rounds in my career already.
“For sure, Jamaine Ortiz is a tough fighter,” said Stevenson when asked if he’d be interested in fighting Ortiz. “He’s another fighter who is really big, trying to make 135. After he cut all that weight, he’s gotta fight a fighter that don’t have to cut all that weight, and I’m very fresh, so he can feel this power, too,” said Shakur.
