Can Shakur steal the show in Saudi Arabia?

Shakur Stevenson says he wants people to call him “the best fighter in the world” when they watch him defend his WBC lightweight title against Floyd Schofield on the February 22 card next month in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The fight will be shown live on DAZN PPV and will be watched by many fans. This is Shakur’s big chance to expand his fan base by putting on a show and stealing the thunder in the main event between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivolo.

“The best in the world”

“I dominate. I don’t have close fights. You watch me go one, two, three, four, five, six rounds, and then there comes a point where someone just wants to finish. They want a knockout or it’s going to be a lot of criticism,” Shakur Stevenson said Secondsoutreacting to people criticizing his fighting style, calling it ‘boring’.

“I sit in my pocket a lot. My last fight (Artem Harutyunyan), I was sitting in the pocket. If he comes in unhappy, I’ll have to put him in his place,” Shakur said of Floyd Schofield. “I’m going to fight all those guys. I’ll fight Ryan. I’ll fight Devin or Teo. Any of those guys. If these guys want to fight me, I’ll fight them.

“That I’m the best fighter in the world,” Shakur said when asked what he wants people to say about him when he fights Schofield on Feb. 22 in Riyadh. “I know I’m the best fighter in the world and I can’t wait to prove it,” Stevenson said.

It is not true that Shakur “sits a lot in his pocket” in his fights. He only does this when faced with weak resistance. When faced with opponents with talent and power, he never stays in the pocket, which is why he is criticized.

In Stevenson’s last fight against Artem Harutyunyan, he stayed in the pocket because he was weak and slow. In his match before that against Edwin De Los Santos, Stevenson was on the bike for the entire 12-round fight and was booed by the fans.

The fighters that Shakur would like to fight are not interested in fighting him. He says he would love to fight Teofimo Lopez, Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney. Those guys won’t fight him because he doesn’t engage and moves too much. That’s why Gervonta Davis and Vasily Lomachenko didn’t bite Stevenson.

“I would love to fight Tank. I would love to fight Gervonta Davis. I think it’s the biggest and best fight in the sport of boxing. Whenever they want to put on these big fights, I’m ready to fight anyone and everyone,” Stevenson said.

Turki Al-Sheikh may be able to lure Tank to fight Shakur, but it will take a big offer to make that fight happen as there is no interest from the Baltimore native to fight him.