Shakur Stevenson believes he is in a class of his own.
The crafty 130-pound southpaw from Newark, New Jersey, does not think that any of his upperclassmen in the talent-rich 135-pound division have a win on their records as impressive as the one he picked up in his most recent ring outing.
Stevenson, 24, notched arguably the most significant victory of career with a dominant decision over Oscar Valdez in their 12-round title bout on April 30 in Las Vegas to unify the WBO and WBC junior lightweight titles.
Valdez, a titlist in two divisions, was undefeated going into the fight, but he was no match for the technical ability of Stevenson, whose speed and sharp counters kept the typically gung-ho Mexican at bay the entire bout.
Despite the lopsided nature of the fight, Stevenson believes his win over Valdez outranks the top wins from the big names in the lightweight division, presumably fighters such as Gervonta Davis, WBC titleholder Devin Haney, WBO/WBA/IBF champion George Kambosos, Ryan Garcia, and Teofimo Lopez.
“These guys at 135 they have never went in there with a test like an Oscar Valdez, like it’s another in-prime, undefeated guy that never lost,” Stevenson said on The DAZN Boxing Show. “[Valdez is] 30-0 with 23 knockouts, great knockout power…[Nobody at 135] takes the risk of fighting someone of that caliber.
“I ain’t seen any of them [at 135] do it.”
When it was mentioned that Lopez has the distinction of having defeated Vasiliy Lomachenko, the Ukrainian whiz who has amassed titles across three, Stevenson pointed out that Lomachenko had already been defeated in the past. In Stevenson’s eyes, that diminishes Lopez’s achievement relative to his win over Valdez.
Prior to the Lopez loss, Lomachenko dropped a close decision to Orlando Salido in 2014, in what was the Ukrainian’s second professional fight.
“I do give him (Lopez) credit, only because it’s Lomachenko, don’t get me wrong,” Stevenson said. “But the only thing I do say is that Oscar Valdez was undefeated. He never lost. Nobody ever beat him. He done been in there with some real fighters.”
Stevenson (18-0, 9 KOs) has repeatedly expressed his admiration for Valdez’s win over Miguel Berchelt last February. Valdez (30-1, 23 KOs), the underdog in that fight, stopped Berchelt definitively with a highlight-reel left hook in the 10th round.
“At the end of the day Lomachenko – he was pound-for-pound, don’t get me wrong – but we’ve seen someone crack Lomachenko’s code before, that’s all I’m saying,” Stevenson said. “That’s how I feel. I’m not taking anything away from [Lopez]. That was a great performance.”