It’s been a great year for Shakur Stevenson. The 26-year-old Newark-born southpaw became a three-division world champion as he defeated Edwin De Los Santos last month. Before that, in April, he knocked out Shuichiro Yoshino, announcing his arrival into the star-studded lightweight division.

Of course, the win over the Dominican De Los Santos invited a fair share of criticism, especially over the way he fought. But to his credit, the newly crowned WBC lightweight champion accepted his shortcomings. He acknowledged how he had fallen short of what was expected of him. However, the young boxer remains optimistic about the future, especially about the coming year in particular. Speaking to the media, he shared in detail what he planned to accomplish next year. Additionally, he revealed the number one boxer who inspires him to this day.

Shakur Stevenson: Goals defined—all set to achieve

Shakur Stevenson was speaking with the YouTube content creator, who goes by the handle name ‘@atm.e.’ The world champion shared how he got inspired to take up the gloves. Once, at a baseball game that he went to see along with his grandfather, he met a bunch of boxers. They left a great impression on the young boy, which was noticed by his grandfather, who himself used to train fighters. So later, he took young ‘Sugar’ to the gym, who took to the sport like a duck to water.

The YouTuber asked, “You can name, like, one boxer that inspired you?” Shakur Stevenson replied, “One boxer, Floyd Mayweather Jr., he inspired me the most. He inspired me to be one of the greatest.”

Next, the video creator asked him to speak about the three goals that he wanted to achieve next year. The lightweight champion from Newark said, “(1) become a pay-per-view superstar; (2) become undisputed; and (3) become the top 2 pound-for-pound.”

Then, letting the cat out of the bag, he highlighted that in order to be among the top 2 P4P boxers, he would have to go against the best in the business; in particular, someone like Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis. Only then would he be able to prove to everyone how they have incorrectly gauged him thus far. “I just got to beat the best; I gotta go fight; like I said, I gotta go fight Tank and beat him, prove the world wrong, and show the world that they all wrong,” he said.

A Walk Among Giants

It’s been over six years since the southpaw from New Jersey turned professional. The Rio Olympics silver medalist has already been through 21 tests and has yet to see the face of defeat. Last year, during his super featherweight title defense, he failed to meet the weight. Subsequently, he announced the move to 135 pounds. The division has the likes of Vasyl Lomachenko, Isaac Cruz, Frank Martin, Keyshawn Davis, and George Kambosos Jr. hobnobbing for the limelight. But the foremost name Stevenson has to reckon with would be one of the ‘faces of boxing,’ Gervonta Davis. It would be interesting to see how the WBC lightweight champion chalks out a plan to become an undisputed champion. After all, he would be crossing paths with such luminaries.

What’s your take? Do you think Shakur Stevenson has it in him to reach the top in 2024? Please share your views with us in the comments below.

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