Last weekend, Shakur Stevenson (25-0, 11 KOs) became the third youngest champion in four divisions in the history of professional boxing, taking the WBO title in the junior welterweight from Teofimo Lopez.
The victory over Lopez, who had been on a six-fight winning streak at 140 pounds, only reinforced Stevenson's confidence in his own greatness.
"I'm number one. To me, I'm the best fighter on the planet. The only one I'm looking at right now and think is really on my level is Oleksandr Usyk. Real boxing is the art of hitting and not getting hit at the same time," Stevenson declared immediately after the fight, not hiding his ambitions to break into the top pound-for-pound on a permanent basis.
However, the triumph was overshadowed by news from the WBC. On February 4, the World Boxing Council declared the lightweight title (up to 61.2 kg), which Stevenson had held since November 2023, vacant. The reason was a rule of the organization that prohibits champions from simultaneously holding belts in different weight categories with other promoters/organizations without special permission.
