Despite scoring the biggest win of his career on Saturday night, Shakur Stevenson was brought back down to earth on Wednesday.
Stevenson moved up to 140 pounds and defeated Teofimo Lopez in dominant fashion to claim the Ring and WBO junior welterweight titles at Madison Square Garden. Just days after his victory, he was stripped of his WBC lightweight championship, which he had held since November 2023 and defended three times.
Stevenson didn’t take too kindly to the news, claiming that he was ordered to pay $100,000 to the WBC and he refused:
The 28-year-old went on to rip the organization for involving him in its supposed “beef” with the now-retired Terence “Bud” Crawford, who is one of his biggest mentors:
Stevenson won a unanimous decision over Lopez with scores of 119-109 on all three judges’ cards. He’s now the fastest boxer ever to win titles in four different divisions.
With no lightweight title to defend, it appears that Stevenson’s new home will be in the junior welterweight division going forward. The undefeated superstar will continue to seek new challenges as he tries to further cement himself as one of the best boxers of his generation.