{"id":339709,"date":"2025-12-12T04:54:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T04:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/339709\/"},"modified":"2025-12-12T04:54:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T04:54:10","slug":"foster-bails-on-135-clearing-shakurs-path-to-teofimo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/339709\/","title":{"rendered":"Foster Bails On 135, Clearing Shakur\u2019s Path To Teofimo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shakur Stevenson was trying hard to disguise his glee after the report that his WBC mandatory O\u2019Shaquie Foster has chosen to vacate his interim title to return to 130. What a nightmare that would have been for Shakur.<\/p>\n

Shakur\u2019s Hidden Relief<\/p>\n

That gets rid of a thorn in Shakur\u2019s heel because he no longer has to worry about defending against the highly skilled Foster. It was revealed tonight that Foster (24-3, 12 KOs) will vacate his newly won WBC interim lightweight title to move back down to super featherweight to retain his WBC belt.<\/p>\n

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\"Add<\/p>\n

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Mandatory Nightmare Avoided<\/p>\n

\u201cHuh? \ud83d\ude02 Yeah, catch me Jan 31st, I\u2019m ready to Takeover the Takeover!!\u201d said Shakur Stevenson on\u00a0X<\/a>, moments after the report of O\u2019Shaquie Foster choosing to vacate his WBC interim lightweight to return to 130.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s still unlikely that Stevenson is going to return to 135 to defend his WBC lightweight title. But holding the title temporarily increases his cache, his marketability. So, if he does defeat Teofimo, he can bask in the afterglow of being a two-division world champion for a brief time before the WBC forces him to decide.<\/p>\n

Keeping either of the belts is hazardous for Shakur\u2019s health because there are too many predators that will be coming after him. He\u2019s just into money at this point in his career and acknowledged it yesterday at the kickoff press conference for his fight with Teofimo.<\/p>\n

The millions that Shakur got from Turki Alalshikh in his last fight against William Zepeda have turned him into a monster. He\u2019s consumed with collecting more wealth. If he beats Lopez, we\u2019ll see him next at 147, fighting one of these three:<\/p>\n

Devin Haney
\nRyan Garcia
\nConor Benn<\/p>\n

Turki\u2019s \u201cBig Fight\u201d Promise<\/p>\n

Turki already said at the press conference yesterday that he\u2019s got a \u201cbig fight\u201d for the winner of the Stevenson vs. Lopez fight in the spring. That big fight isn\u2019t going to be against any of the 140-pounders because none of them are marketable.<\/p>\n

Stevenson is fighting on January 31st in what is believed to be a career-high payday against WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez on January 31st, 2026. The vulture-esque Shakur is chasing money and sees Lopez as a vulnerable guy that he can beat.<\/p>\n

Teofimo\u2019s Vulnerabilities Exposed<\/p>\n

He openly says he\u2019s been watching Teo for years, wanting to fight him. It\u2019s classic bird-of-prey behavior. He spotted vulnerability in him ages ago. It\u2019s not like Stevenson has had to look hard. Everyone could see that Lopez has been lame since his loss to George Kambosos Jr. in 2021.<\/p>\n

His two controversial wins over Sandor Martin and Jamaine Ortiz cemented the fact that he\u2019s got weaknesses that can be exploited. Teofimo\u2019s former promoters at Top Rank wisely chose not to match him against the top 140-pounders, Gary Antuanne Russell, Richardson Hitchins, and Subriel Matias.<\/p>\n

Nation Vegas has been writing on the fight game since 2012 and is now a featured writer with Boxing News 24. Over the years, he has built a reputation for strong coverage of both major events and rising prospects, delivering news, fight reports, and feature commentary that connect with fans worldwide. Known for his crisp, energetic style, Nation brings a fan-first perspective with the sharp analysis of a seasoned observer of the sport.<\/p>\n

Boxing News 24<\/a> \u00bb O\u2019Shaquie Foster Bails on 135, Saving Shakur From a Nightmare Mandatory<\/p>\n

Last Updated on 12\/11\/2025 \t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shakur Stevenson was trying hard to disguise his glee after the report that his WBC mandatory O\u2019Shaquie Foster…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":339710,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-339709","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/339710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}