WBO super featherweight champion Shakur Stevenson (17-0, 9 KOs) says he’s going to be going out to “beat up” WBC champion Oscar Valdez (30-0, 23 KOs) this Saturday, April 30th, on ESPN.
The 2016 Olympic silver medalist Stevenson, 24, says that he wants to turn himself into a “superstar,” He believes that by defeating the previously unbeaten two-time Olympian Valdez, he’ll be going a long way towards achieving that goal.
However, Stevenson has to win and make it entertaining because many of his fights have been boring to watch due to his habit of fighting in a defensive-first manner.
If Stevenson runs all night against Valdez, as he did against Jeremiah Nakathilia, the MGM crowd will boo him out of the arena. It doesn’t matter if Stevenson wins a dull decision; he will hurt his popularity because this is the entertainment business.
Although in Stevenson’s recent fight, he broke away from his usual safety-first style by being more offensive-oriented against WBO 130-lb champion Jamel Herring last October, against a non-puncher who lacked the power to hurt him.
In his fights before that against Joet Gonzalez and Jeremia Nakathilia, Stevenson made it challenging to watch because he wouldn’t stay in the pocket.
“I’m not trying to sleep on nobody like I got it won without putting the work in,” said Shakur Stevenson to Top Rank Boxing about his fight this Saturday night against Oscar Valdez.
“When I hear people say, ‘Mayweather-Corrales,’ that’s like counting him [Valdez] out,” said Shakur. “I’m not looking at it like that. I’ve still got a task in front of me.
“I think it’s a fight that is going to take me to the next level. Right now, this is the Shakur Stevenson era, and I’m Shakur Stevenson. I’m not Floyd Mayweather. Two different fighters, two different people, but I’m going to go in there and perform and beat him up.
“My mindset is whatever it takes to win. They’re going to love you if you win, or they’re going to hate you if you lose. I’m not going in there to lose.
“I’m an offense & defensive fighter, so I’m naturally going to put on a show, but I’m not going to stand there and receive none in return,” said Stevenson, making it clear that he’s going to be using his pull-back style to avoid getting hit.”
“That might be my biggest mistake that I fight for the crowd,” said Valdez about his focus on entertaining rather than using the less entertaining pull-back style that Shakur uses in his fights.
“I want to give the fans what they want, which is a good fight. This might be a little bit different, a technical fight, but as I said before,
“I’m going to give it my best. I’m going to give everything I can inside the ring to give the fans what they want. Most importantly, just to win,” said Valdez.
![Shakur Stevenson: 'I'm going to beat him [Oscar Valdez] up'](https://www.boxing247.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Oscar-Bob-Arum-and-Shakur-Boxing-Photos.jpg.webp)