X<\/a>, reflecting on how he\u2019s freezing out WBC interim lightweight champion O\u2019Shaquie Foster<\/p>\nShakur replied to O\u2019Shaquie\u2019s request for a fight, saying on X, \u201cNow I\u2019m in the driver\u2019s seat. I don\u2019t gotta vacate s***, I just fought my mandatory [William Zepeda] my last fight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stevenson Moves the Goalposts<\/p>\n
To make it even more complicated, Stevenson said that Foster now must first defeat his #3 contender at 130, Raymond Ford (18-1-1, 8 KOs), before he\u2019d agree to fight him. In other words, Foster must earn his title shot against him, even though he already did by defeating Fulton to capture the WBC interim 135-lb title to become his mandatory.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all good, Sav [Raymond Ford], cause he won\u2019t get an opportunity with me until he fights you.. That WBC s*** don\u2019t move me,\u201d said Shakur, making it clear that he\u2019s not going to be forced into giving Foster a title shot.<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t make sense for Shakur to insist that Foster fight super featherweight Ray Ford when he\u2019s now at lightweight and already in position to challenge for his WBC title.<\/p>\n
Turki Money & Safe Matchmaking<\/p>\n
Boxing fans on social media view Stevenson\u2019s behavior as a sign that he\u2019s afraid to face O\u2019Shaquie and potentially lose to him. If he gets beaten by him, it could end the big million+ paydays that Turki Alalshikh has been giving him since last year. He\u2019s been paying Shakur top dollar for non-risky fights against Josh Padley and William Zepeda.<\/p>\n
Shakur was fine with fighting those guys because he obviously knew he had no worries of losing. But now that he\u2019s faced someone who could dry up that oil money that has been coming in by the barrelfuls, filling his bank account without him risking his hide.<\/p>\n
If Stevenson loses to Foster, he could be replaced by him on Turki\u2019s cards. We\u2019d have a replacement and one that doesn\u2019t need to be protected.<\/p>\n
Turki hasn\u2019t insisted that Shakur put himself at risk. He could have shown Shakur some tough love by telling him that if he wants the millions, he\u2019s got to fight guys like Foster, Andy Cruz, Floyd Schofield, and Abdullah Mason.<\/p>\n
Ken Woods has been a senior writer at Boxing News 24 since 2013, covering the sport from every angle. With years of ringside reporting, he delivers fight news, results, and analysis that cut through the noise. Ken\u2019s work consistently spotlights champions, contenders, and prospects, giving fans a sharp, knowledgeable view of the global boxing scene.<\/p>\n
Boxing News 24<\/a> \u00bb Shakur Plays Keep-Away With Foster \u2014 \u201cRabbit Got the Gun\u201d Now<\/p>\nLast Updated on 12\/08\/2025 \t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shakur Stevenson posted on social media, remarking how it\u2019s \u201cno fun\u2019 now that he\u2019s in the power position,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304908,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-304907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}