Shakur never revealed what Ward told him, leaving the advice open to interpretation. His comments, however, sound like they are coming from a fighter who has done it all. Shakur has called himself “the best,” but he hasn’t beaten enough top fighters to make that case.
William Zepeda last year was arguably the closest Stevenson has come to facing one of the elite fighters in his division. Shakur won, but it was hardly a performance that separated him from the field at lightweight. Zepeda connected repeatedly to the body, outworked him for long stretches and forced Stevenson into a difficult fight.
Moving to light welterweight brought another title when Shakur defeated Teofimo Lopez for the WBO belt. It did not make him the clear No. 1 at 140.
Ernesto Mercado has called Stevenson out and claims Shakur blocked him on social media. Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela and Oscar Duarte provide other dangerous options in a division filled with younger, hungry punchers capable of testing the champion physically.
Yet Shakur recently concentrated on moving up again to face WBO welterweight champion Devin Haney while requesting a 144-pound catchweight. Haney refused to surrender three pounds, leaving Shakur frustrated when the fight went nowhere.
Ward retired at 33 in 2017 after consecutive victories over Sergey Kovalev, just as Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev were becoming major threats at light heavyweight. He had already accomplished far more than Stevenson has today, but his retirement meant those fights never happened. Bivol and Beterbiev later became the dominant fighters at 175 pounds.
Stevenson still has time to take a different route. If Shakur wants to call himself the best, he needs to beat the best fighters available. Rather than asking Haney to come down to 144 pounds, Shakur can prove how good he is against the fighters waiting for him at 140. He can prove it against the fighters in his own division who want his title.
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