Skip to content
Exclusive

Shakur Stevenson: 'I'm going to be one of the greatest fighters to ever do it'

Shakur Stevenson steps up to lightweight to fight Shuichiro Yoshino in a title eliminator, live on Sky Sports in the early hours of Sunday morning; "It's the fight of my life right now," Stevenson said. "I want to take that confidence away and beat him up"

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Shakur Stevenson has described his fight against Shuichiro Yoshino as 'the fight of his life' and is not getting distracted by talk of an undisputed lightweight title fight against either Devin Haney or Vasiliy Lomachenko.

Shakur Stevenson won’t let the prospect of fighting the winner of Devin Haney's undisputed lightweight title bout with Vasiliy Lomachenko distract him ahead of his next fight.

Stevenson meets Shuichiro Yoshino in a WBC title eliminator at the Prudential Center in Newark, live on Sky Sports in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Victory would put Stevenson in line to challenge the Haney-Lomachenko winner next, but he cannot to dwell on that and look past Yoshino.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Shakur Stevenson has challenged Shuichiro Yoshino to go to 'deep waters' ahead of their fiery clash.

"I'm going to be in line for the belts, well for one of the belts. I'm down but as of right now I'm focused on Yoshino," Stevenson told Sky Sports.

"I've seen him fight. He's real tough, so you can't sleep on that dude."

Stevenson added: "I definitely see him [Yoshino] as a dangerous man. I'm not following the narrative: 'Oh, it's an easy fight, oh, it's a bum.' I've watched this dude.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Shakur Stevenson defeated Robson Conceicao by unanimous decision at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

"He's going to be relentless for 12 rounds. He comes in great shape, he throws a lot of punches. He can take a good punch, real durable. For this dude, I'm looking at it like it's the fight of my life right now."

Also See:

In the build up to their fight, Stevenson has seen Yoshino looking surprisingly confident.

"I don't like when somebody be walking around here smiling like they know something," the American said.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Shakur Stevenson put in a convincing performance over Oscar Valdez to become unified super-featherweight champion

"Opponents, usually they give you the angry vibes. Him, he's walking around here with a smile like he's confident in himself, like he believes in what he's got going on.

"It lets you know that he's coming in here to upset somebody. He's not fearful… I want to take that away from him and beat him up."

If he performs to his potential, Stevenson, already a two-weight world champion, is convinced he will demonstrate how good he really is.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Shakur Stevenson celebrated his huge win over Oscar Valdez by proposing to his girlfriend in the ring!

"I don't think he truly understands what he's going against," Stevenson said.

"I've fought some great fighters in the last couple of years and I've made it look easy.

"If I keep doing what I'm doing, I'm going to be one of the greatest fighters to ever do it."

Live Fight Night International

Watch the big bill featuring Shakur Stevenson vs Shuichiro Yoshino, Jared Anderson vs George Arias and Keyshawn Davis vs Anthony Yigit live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Action from 2am on Sunday morning

Around Sky