WBC & WBO super featherweight champion Shakur Stevenson says he’s ready to “beat up” Robson Conceicao this Friday night in their headliner on ESPN at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Shakur (18-0, 9 KOs) is the favorite to defeat the 2016 Olympic gold medalist Conceicao (17-1, 8 KOs), but it’s going to be far from an easy fight.
The only defeat on the 33-year-old Conceicao’s record is a controversial 12 round decision loss to Oscar Valdez last September in Tucson, Arizona.
Many boxing fans felt that the six-year professional Conceicao did more than enough to deserve the victory over Valdez but was a victim of a hometown decision.
Since that loss, Conceicao bounced back with an impressive 10 round unanimous decision victory over Xavier Martinez last January.
For his part, Shakur has looked outstanding, defeating Oscar Valdez, Jamel Herring, Jeremiah Nakathila, and Toka Khan Clary.
Earlier this week, Stevenson, 25, said he had a special announcement to make after his fight with Conceicao. It’s believed that Shakur will be making a move up to 135 to go after bigger fights.
If Shakur does move up to lightweight, he has these potential fights available to him:
- Ryan Garcia
- Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis
- Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz
“He’s a good fighter,” Shakur said about Conceicao. “But I think he lost against [Oscar] Valdez. If you left it in the judges’ hands, then you lost.
“I fought Valdez, and I beat the s*** out of him. I don’t have any excuses. He’s talking about having Covid or something before his last fight. All I hear are excuses. Tell him not to have any excuses on Friday night. I’m ready to beat him up,” said Stevenson.
“All I can do is speak for the guys that I represent. Haney, Shakur and also Lomachenko, who is back on October 29th,” said Bob Arum to Fighthype when asked if Shakur Stevenson could face the winner of the October 15th rematch between Devin Haney and George Kambosos Jr.
“They’re all in the mix, and they all make great, great fights. So, whoever fights the other first, it’s up to them. There are other fighters in the lightweight division that would make major matches like [Ryan] Garcia and Tank Davis if they were available. I think the lightweight division is really loaded with talent,” said Arum.
