Famous fighter Shakul Stevenson (19-0, 9 KOs), known as "Mayweather II", has not yet determined an opponent for the next fight. In September, Stevenson reached a new peak in his career with a point-winning victory over Olympic gold medalist Robson Consekau. However, because Stevenson was overweight before the confrontation with Consecau, he lost the WBC and WBO super featherweight titles in advance. In this regard, Stevenson did not care, he bluntly said that he wanted to leave his division for a long time, and the next game will be in the 135-pound lightweight division.
Right now, the major boxing organizations have awarded Stevenson a 135-pound ranking, which is third in the WBC, fifth in the WBA and IBF, and second in the WBO. Among them, the WBC publicly stated that if Stevenson can face Isaac Cruz, the second-ranked "bulldog", the winner will forcibly challenge the undisputed overlord of his class, Devin Harney. At present, Hani holds four belts of WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO, and he may face WBC number one fighter Vasily Lomachenko next, which will be a strong title defense.
According to outside analysts, Stevenson, who has risen to 135 pounds, should follow the WBC's arrangement if he wants to get the fastest chance to challenge, that is, to play the championship qualification challenge, and after having the mandatory qualification, no one can avoid him.
At first, the media reported that Stevenson and Cruz were willing to fight, but unfortunately the two sides have not reached an agreement so far, and sources revealed that Cruz is not willing to face Stevenson. WBC said they were willing to arrange for Stevenson to face No. 4 Willian Zepeda (27-0, 23 KOs) if Cruz refused, but it was also revealed that Zepeda was also unwilling to face Stevenson.
This week, Stevenson said publicly that he really doesn't know who he'll face next. Stevenson believes that if Cruz and Zepeda refuse, he plans to fight the undisputed 135-pound pre-135-pound champion George Cambosos.
Stevenson said: "Looking at the rankings, Cruz is WBC number two, I'm number three, Zepeda is number four, but they all reject my words, next will be George Cambosos, I don't think he has anything to lose, so he won't refuse me," Stevenson said. Cambosos lost to Haney twice and going against me will be his only chance and the only place to go, and in terms of money, I don't think anyone wants to play against Cambosos. ”
Cambosos is indeed a good choice for Stevenson, the question is whether he is willing to play against Stevenson, who is now ranked fifth in the WBC? As Stevenson said, Cambosos has lost to Harney twice in a row and is at the low point of his career, is there the courage to play Stevenson in this situation? The Cambosos team should be well aware that they are not sure of beating Stevenson, and if they lose again, Cambosos may not be able to get ahead, and the insurance strategy is to arrange for Cambosos to play a comeback match and stop the loss in time, unless the Stevenson team makes an attractive offer.
It is also said that if Cambosos also refuses, Stevenson will consider WBC number six Shuichiro Yoshino (16-0, 12 KOs), wondering who can be his opponent to advance to the 135-pound lightweight first fight?
WBC Lightweight Top 10 List:
I. Vasily - Lomachenko
II. Isaac Cruz
3. Shakur Stevenson
IV. William Zepeda
V. George Cambosos
6. Shuichiro Yoshino
VII. Germaine Ortiz
VIII. Ivan Mendy
IX. Michelle Rivera
X. Jeremiah Nakatira