Shakur Stevenson doesn’t sound at all impressed by Ryan Garcia. Asked by Stephen A. Smith how he would handle Garcia’s size, speed and power, Shakur brushed it off and turned the talk to what he sees as a basic flaw in Ryan’s game.
“I think he’s very overrated,” Shakur said on The Stephen A. Smith Show. “When a guy loses like that. The way I saw him lose to Rolly. All Rolly did was take his left hook away. Clearly that means that’s all he’s got. He better sharpen his weapons before he gets in the ring with me.”
This is the real shot here. Shakur doesn’t just say he’ll beat Ryan. He says Garcia is too dependent on one punch, and that Rolando “Rolly” Romero has already shown the rest of the division how to blunt him.
Romero beat Garcia over 12 rounds last May, dropping him and winning by scores of 115-112, 115-112 and 118-109. From Shakur’s point of view, that fight exposed a limitation in Ryan’s offense. Once the left hook was taken away, he didn’t see enough variety or adjustment to change the fight.
This is the angle Shakur is pushing. Ryan’s name still carries weight because of his speed, power and profile, but Shakur treats him like a fighter whose game is easier to break down than people want to admit.
It’s also the kind of comment that suits Shakur’s style. He’s always backed up his defense and ring IQ against punchers, and he clearly believes that Ryan wouldn’t have enough ways to bother him over a full fight.
Shakur’s reading may sound harsh, but after the Rolly loss, it’s not hard to see why he said it. Ryan looked lost in that fight and never made any adjustments after being dropped in the second round. He entered a passive mode and stayed there for the rest of the fight.
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Last updated on 2026/03/20 at 17:28
