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 see 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 many fans will be watching. This is Shakur’s big opportunity to expand his fan base by putting on a show and stealing the thunder of the main event between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.

“Best in the world”

“I dominate. I don’t have close fights. You watch me go up one, two, three, four, five, six laps, and then it comes to a point where somebody just wants to end it. They want a knockout, or there’s going to be a lot of criticism with it,” Shakur Stevenson said. Second saltresponds to the people who criticize his fighting style, labeling him as ‘boring’.

“I put a lot in the pocket. My last fight (Artem Harutyunyan), I put in the bag. If he comes out unscathed, I’m going to have to put him in his place,” Shakur said of Floyd Schofield. “I will fight all those guys. I will fight with Ryan. I’ll fight Devin or Teo. Any of those guys. If those 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 puts “a lot in the bag” in his fights. He only does this when he faces weak opposition. When he faces opposition with talent and strength, he never stays in the bag, and for that 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 his 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 like to fight Teofimo Lopez, Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney. Those guys aren’t going to fight him because he doesn’t engage and moves too much. That’s why Stevenson has yet to get a nibble from Gervonta Davis and Vasily Lomachenko.

“I would love to fight against. I would love to fight Gervonta Davis. I think this is the biggest and best fight to have in the sport of boxing. Anytime they want to make these big fights happen, I’m ready to fight anyone and everyone,” says Stevenson.

Turki Al-Sheikh could potentially entice Tank to fight Shakur, but it’s going to take a big offer for that fight to happen because there’s no interest on the Baltimore native’s part to fight him.