Shakur Stevenson Plans To ‘Beat Up’ Robson Conceicao, Joe Cordina And Become Future Of Boxing
After Shakur Stevenson dismantled Oscar Valdez in April, the 25-year-old ascended on many pound-for-pound lists.
On Monday afternoon, when Stevenson was asked if he was the future of boxing he replied, “I am.”
“Sooner or later.. I’m going to be the name that you talk about when you think of boxing,” Stevenson told FIGHT SPORTS.
“I’ll wear my title… I’ll keep grinding and keep getting better and become a pay-per-view superstar.”
Stevenson faces Robson Conceicao, of Brazil, on September 23 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey — Stevenson’s hometown. He puts his WBC and WBO super featherweight titles on the line in Top Rank’s main event.
Conceicao won an Olympic gold medal as an amateur at the 2016 Olympics, which was the same Olympics that Stevenson had won a silver medal in, but in the bantamweight division.
Conceicao recently got back into the winning column with a unanimous decision win over Xavier Martinez in January. Before that he lost to Oscar Valdez by unanimous decision.
The Brazilian boxer was not in attendance at Monday’s press conference — he will be in the country in August — but Stevenson paid his respects to his opponent.
“You go and win an Olympic gold medal I don’t care who you (are), that’s one of the hardest things to do in life, especially as a boxer, so you gotta give him the respect he deserves,” Stevenson said.
“But I ain’t gonna respect him the ring. He’s a solid fighter, but the pro game is a lot different. It’s a whole different sport.
“I think I’m gonna go in there and beat him up.”
But Conceicao isn’t the only boxer on Stevenson’s hit list.
He told FIGHT SPORTS that if he’s victorious against Conceicao, he’s taking out IBF titleholder Joe Cordina next.
“If I’m at 130 I wanna fight Joe Cordina. Cordina keeps saying my name, he keep pressing me out on Instagram and Twitter like I’m scared or something so, I wanna beat him up,” he said.
Cordina, of the UK, is undefeated in his 15 fights with nine coming by knockout. He last won by second-round knockout against Kenichi Ogawa in June, beating him for the IBF super-featherweight title.
At Monday’s official press conference, Stevenson was welcomed back by the Mayor of Newark and local children from the Boys and Girls Club, among other guests.
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“I feel like I owe it to Newark,” Stevenson said. “At the end of the day, Newark made me who I am and if it wasn’t for Newark I wouldn’t be the person that I am.
“I owe it to my city to represent them and put them on my back every time I go out there.”