Less than two years after making his pro debut, Shakur Stevenson is ready to fight the featherweight division's elite fighters.
Stevenson improved his pro record to 9-0 with a big first-round knockout victory over Viorel Simion on the undercard of Terence Crawford's WBO welterweight title defense against Jose Benavidez Jr. It was the latest in impressive performances on television by Stevenson, but now he wants to fight the best 126-pound fighters out there and has a couple of names in mind.
In a post-fight interview with ESPN, Stevenson stated that he wants to face off against former IBF featherweight champion Lee Selby and then, possibly Josh Warrington, the current IBF featherweight titleholder.
“Y’all can give me Lee Selby next, I feel like. I feel I’ve been calling Lee Selby out since forever. I’ll go to England and fight Lee Selby. And after I fight Lee Selby, I’ll fight Josh Warrington, too,” Stevenson said.
Stevenson, a silver medalist from the 2016 Olympics, is not ranked in any of the four governing bodies, but is currently ranked No. 29 by Boxrec and rapidly ascending through the featherweight rankings. Interestingly, one of Simion's three career losses came against Selby. Selby has not fought since losing his IBF title against Warrington this past May and currently does not have any fights lined up for him. As for Warrington, he is defending his title against Carl Frampton later this year.
