What ‘Responsibility’ Is Shakur Stevenson Talking About?

In 2016, Shakur Stevenson was just a 19-year-old who was promoting a campaign in his hometown called “Just a kid.”

His goal was to show his peers that dreaming big isn’t just limited to certain people. Anyone in the world can dream big.

“It’s an amazing feeling that I can inspire some of these kids here and help them want to do something in life or want to be great,” Stevenson said back in 2016. “They can think about something more than our city, more than hard times.”

His mother Malikah was part of this occasion. When Stevenson turned 21, his focus was to be at the Rio Olympics. Particularly, he had Robeisy Ramirez in his sight, the gold-medalist from the 2012 London Olympics.

Even though Stevenson was a good competitor, many expected Ramirez to repeat the history. They would meet in a gold medal match, where Ramirez held out a valiant effort from Stevenson, who ended up with a broken heart and a silver medal.

“I think I needed that break,” he said before his second pro bout against Carlos Gaston Suarez in 2017. “I was really hurt after the Olympics; I was sad about losing and my mind wasn’t all the way there.

“So that break definitely was needed, but everything happened the way it was supposed to happen and everything was perfect timing.”

Since the win, Stevenson has won 18 matches on the bounce, including nine knockouts. Fast forward to 2022, the 25-year-old is set to defend his WBC, WBO and Ring Magazine junior lightweight titles against Robson Conceicao.

“I’m a grown man now, there ain’t no kid about me no more. There’s a lot of responsibility but I feel I can handle it,” Stevenson has said on an episode of Top Rank’s “Real Time” web show.