How Shakur Stevenson is staying focused in 2020
On Nov. 14, Shakur Stevenson strode confidently to the center of the ring for the final instructions from the referee. Stevenson listened stoically and then returned to the corner to await the opening bell.
But Stevenson climbed through the ropes and took a perch near the ring. Because on this night, the former featherweight champion was not fighting himself but serving as the chief second and lead trainer for his friend and training partner, Joshua Greer.
On Saturday, Stevenson, who is No. 10 on the Yahoo Sports’ pound-for-pound list, will return to the same ring, but this time as a fighter, when he takes on Toka Kahn Clary in the main event of a card at the MGM Grand Conference Center on ESPN.
It was a unique experience for the 23-year-old former U.S. Olympian, but he took it in stride.
Stevenson is a fabulously talented fighter blessed with superior quickness, fast hands and feet, accuracy, power and an amazing ring IQ at an early age. It’s no shock he’s good enough to work a corner and provide clear and cogent advice so early in his pro career.
He’s a boxing lifer and he said it’s something he’d like to pursue later in life when his fighting days are done.
“I think it’s something I want to do, but I have to see if I like it,” Stevenson said. “It’s on my mind, though, and something I want to try.”
For now, he wants to pursue his calling in the ring, where he has the kind of ability that it’s conceivable he could not only put together a long winning streak but be regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
He’s already moved up from featherweight to super featherweight, and it appears he has the frame to move up at least two more divisions, if not three.
He’s a massive favorite to win, and on BetMGM, he’s -4000. That means a bettor would have to lay $4,000 in order to earn a $100 profit. Kahn Clary is +1800, meaning a $100 wager on him would return an $1,800 profit should he be victorious.
Top Rank moved his fight ahead when the Miguel Berchelt-Oscar Valdez fight, which was scheduled to be the main event, was postponed. Stevenson was ready to step in quickly.
He said working with Greer in training camp and then in the corner on Greer’s fight night was helpful to him.
“This was a good experience for me before my fight and being in a fight atmosphere just kept my mind on boxing,” he said. “It kept me focused and thinking about what I need to do in my fight. Training is more of a career for me on down the line, but doing it now kind of benefits me in a lot of different ways.”
Kahn Clary is 28-2 and has been around the professional ranks for eight years, or since Stevenson was still in high school. He’s a solid fighter but is nowhere near Stevenson’s class talent-wise.
But he does have fast hands and some pop in his punches. He’s not your typical B-side opponent who is a 30-1 or 40-1 underdog. He’s got a little more skill than most of them.
His best chance, though, is if he catches Stevenson looking ahead or unprepared. But Stevenson is much like the legendary Floyd Mayweather in that his greatest gift is his work ethic.
He’s rarely too much above his fighting weight and is never far out of shape.
He’s one of a slew of elite young talents on the Top Rank roster, including super middleweight Edwin Berlanga, who is fighting on his undercard; unified lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez; heavyweight Jared “Big Baby” Anderson; and so many more.
Few stand out like Stevenson, though. Top Rank CEO Bob Arum said he’s the most advanced of Top Rank’s fighters without a title, and said he is even more advanced at the same stage than Mayweather was.
“I believe at this stage Shakur surpasses where Floyd was at the same point,” Arum said. “Now, Floyd took the great skills that he had and he worked at it and made himself the most skilled fighter around, but that wasn’t always the case. But right from the get-go, Shakur has had those skills and he has great people around him.”
Arum said he wants Stevenson to fight the winner of the planned Jamel Herring-Carl Frampton fight. If he wins that, he wants him to fight the Berchelt-Valdez winner. And Arum said Golden Boy’s JoJo Diaz, a 2012 Olympian who holds the IBF super featherweight title, is also a possibility.
There are big fights down the line, and Arum said he thinks Stevenson is ready “for a huge year in 2021,” but Stevenson isn’t of the mind to talk much about the future.
“You have to take care of what’s in front of you before you worry about what’s down the line,” he said.
Spoken like a trainer, no doubt.
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