Just 21 years old, Shakur is a one-year pro. A sensational young prospect at 126 pounds, he was one of the United States’ top amateur boxers in recent years – he fought at the elite international level and won the featherweight silver medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
As a professional, he is managed by his hero, Andre Ward, along with James Prince and Josh Dubin, and trained by his grandfather, Wali Moses, and Kay Koroma. Shakur is promoted by Top Rank Inc. and Antonio Leonard Productions.
Activity is important for a developing young prospect, and Shakur has been very active with 10 fights in his first 21 months as a pro.
In his last fight on January 18 in Verona, New York, he won by fourth-round TKO against Jessie Cris Rosales – it was Shakur’s second consecutive scheduled 10-rounder, and second straight spectacular knockout win.
Boxingscene.com’s Jake Donovan reported [excerpts]: Shakur Stevenson opens up the new year the same way he closed out 2018 – with a bang.
The 21-year old Newark (NJ) native and 2016 Olympic Silver medalist scored his second straight spectacular knockout, the latest a 4th round stoppage of Jessie Cris Rosales in the ESPN+-streamed co-feature at Turning Stone Resort & Casino.
A left hand shot put the Rosales down midway through round four, prompting [the] referee to stop the contest on the spot.
Stevenson never got caught up in trying to replicate the highlight-reel 1st round knockout of Viorel Simeon last October on ESPN’s flagship network. The former amateur standout – who brought home silver for the United States in the 2016 Rio Olympics – patiently boxed in the early going, working well behind his jab and using his spacing to create opportunities rather than go on the hunt.
Stevenson began pushing Rosales around the ring with his jab and clean left hands. His money punch produced the end of the fight, with a straight left sending Rosales to the canvas in round four. It was enough to instantly call a halt to the contest, coming at 1:29 of round four. [End Donovan item]
In his post-fight interview, Shakur said, “I stood in the pocket for basically the entire fight. I fought on the inside, I hurt him, and I knocked him out. I want Warrington. I want to go to England and fight in front of the fans over there. That would be a great fight.”
In earlier interviews, Shakur said, “I feel like adapting to the pros has gone exactly the way I want it. I’ve been getting better and better in my last fights. I put on some amazing performances. Actually, in the amateurs I used to box with no headgear, so I was already used to that, but the smaller gloves are way different.
“I’ve been training in Alexandria, Virginia, since I was 17. I train at the Alexandria Boxing Club here, but Newark is my home town – that’s where I was born and raised. That’s my city.
“My style – I would say I’m a thinker and a performer. I’m a lot more of a boxer.
“I’ve been to a few training camps with pros. I was in Andre Ward’s training camp when he fought Sergey Kovalev. I was in Terence Crawford’s training camp helping him spar when he fought Viktor Postol – I did four four-minute rounds with Terence. If you listen to Terence after that fight, he shouts out, ‘Good luck to the Olympic team that was helping me in sparring – Shakur and everybody on the Olympic team.’ I also sparred with Gary Russell Jr.
“I met Andre Ward when I was younger. I think it was in May or June, 2015. He had a kid that was from our gym in Alexandria, Antoine Douglas, and I went down there. I was hanging out and watching every time he sparred and trained, but I was training there also. That was my first time meeting ‘Dre.”
AMATEUR, PERSONAL BACKGROUND: Shakur said, “I was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey. My mother’s got nine kids – there’s seven boys and two girls. I’m the only boxer in my family. My little brother used to box before, but he had a fight where he thought he got robbed and after he got robbed, he quit.
“I was five years old when I first started boxing. My grandfather, Wali Moses, he was a boxing coach. He used to play baseball, also. One day, he took me to a baseball game and some of his fighters came and he introduced me to them. The next day, I asked him if he would take me to the boxing gym. I felt like it was cool that they were boxers. So, he took me to the gym and the first time I went there, I just fell in love with boxing. I had my first fight when I was eight.
“I know I had around 140-something amateur fights. I had 12 losses, maybe 13.
“I’m naturally right-handed. When I started boxing, I was just more comfortable in the left-handed stance.”…
From nj.com [Aug. 14, 2016 – excerpts]: Shakur Stevenson was born and raised in Newark and still loves his home city. He’s named for the rapper – Stevenson was born nine months after rap star Tupac Shakur was gunned down. His mother, Malikah Stevenson, considered the musician her “poet” and always knew she would name a boy after him. He lived on Ali Blvd – That’s right, Stevenson and his family lived for a time on Muhammad Ali Blvd in Newark.
His role model is Andre Ward – Andre Ward is that most recent U.S. male boxer to win a gold medal, doing so at the 2004 Athens Games. Stevenson studied Ward and appreciated both his style in the ring and his approach outside of it.
Ward has become a mentor – Andre Ward has taken Stevenson under his wing, even giving him a pep talk before the Olympic trials. “I think he’s ahead of his time a little bit,” Ward said. “He understands his range. He understands who he is as a fighter. Shakur wants to fight in the biggest moments. I look at that and I’m impressed.”
He inspired his dad – Shahid Guyton said it was watching his son’s commitment to boxing that helped motivate him to “live out my dream” after some “trials and tribulations with the streets.” He earned his GED, got a job in behavioral health technology and getting a degree at a community college. “I told him, ‘You don’t know what kind of inspiration you are to me.’ ” [End nj.com item]
AMATEUR HIGHLIGHTS:
2016 OLYMPIC GAMES – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 123 pounds – SILVER MEDALIST: in his first fight on 8-14-16 he won a 3-0 decision against Robenilson de Jesus of Brazil; in the quarterfinals on 8-16-16 he won a 3-0 decision against Erdenbaat Tsendbaatar of Mongolia; in the semifinals on 8-18-16 he won by walkover against Vladimir Nikitin of Russia; in the finals on 8-20-16 he lost a 2-1 decision against Robeisy Ramirez of Cuba…
The Associated Press’ Greg Beacham reported from ringside [excerpts]: Robeisy Ramirez and Shakur Stevenson are two of the top talents in the entire Olympic boxing tournament, and their bantamweight championship bout produced three rounds of tantalizing action.
When Ramirez’s hand was raised afterward, Cuba had another two-time gold medalist.
Stevenson left the ring in uncontrollable tears, but also with a silver medal and a bottomless source of motivation for his upcoming pro career.
Ramirez claimed a split decision over the American bantamweight, celebrating with a standing backflip in the ring after a remarkable run in Rio de Janeiro.
“He’s young, and he has big promise for boxing,” the 22-year-old Ramirez said. “It was hard to fight against him.”
Ramirez and Stevenson put on a high-level exhibition for the crowd at Riocentro Pavilion 6, showing off athleticism and sophisticated boxing skill for three perilous rounds.
Ramirez backed up his flyweight gold medal from the London Olympics by moving up in weight and winning perhaps the most talented division in the Rio Games.
Stevenson was distraught after the first loss of his international career. Coach Kay Koroma and the fighter’s family rallied around him for comfort, and Stevenson eventually gathered himself for the medal ceremony.
Stevenson was honest and sportsmanlike in defeat, saying he “definitely” didn’t think he won.
“First round, he got,” Stevenson said. “Second round, I got. Third round, he came and did what he was supposed to do. I had a game plan to try and outbox him the last round because I knew he was going to come forward. It didn’t work. I didn’t feel like it was my best performance.”
Ramirez was aggressive in the third round, particularly in the final minute. Stevenson landed a flurry at the bell, but two of the three judges awarded the third to Ramirez.
“Congratulations to him,” Stevenson said. “He had a better third round. But hopefully we get to meet down the line in the pros.” [End Beacham item]
2016 AMERICAS OLYMPIC QUALIFIER – Buenos Aires, Argentina, 123 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in his first fight on 3-13-16 he won a 2-1 decision against Luis Ruiz of Colombia; in the quarterfinals on 3-15-16 he stopped Mathias Bagnado of Uruguay in the 1st round; in the semifinals on 3-17-16 he won a 3-0 decision against José Diaz of Venezuela; in the finals on 3-19-16 he won a 3-0 decision against Alberto Melian of Argentina…
2016 WORLD SERIES OF BOXING – 123 pounds: on 1-21-16 in Miami, Florida, he won a 3-0 decision against Peter McGrail of England; on 2-19-16 in Casablanca, Morocco, he won a 3-0 decision against Mohamed Hamout of Morocco…
2016 U.S. OLYMPIC TRIALS – Reno, Nevada, 123 pounds/double elimination tournament – GOLD MEDALIST: in the quarterfinals (his first fight) on 12-7-15 he won a 3-0 decision against Mikhail Montgomery; in the Winners Bracket on 12-8-15 he won a 3-0 decision against Rubin Villa; in the Winners Bracket on 12-9-15 he won a 3-0 decision against Efren Lopez; in the finals on 12-12-15 he won a 3-0 decision against Rubin Villa…
2015 U.S. OLYMPIC TRIALS QUALIFIER 2 – Baltimore, Maryland, 123 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in his first fight on 9-8-15 he won a 3-0 decision against Duke Ragan; in his second fight on 9-9-15 he won a 3-0 decision against Frank Gonzalez; in the quarterfinals on 9-10-15 he won a 3-0 decision against Efren Lopez; in the semifinals on 9-11-15 he won a 3-0 decision against Cristian Williams; in the finals on 9-12-15 he won a 3-0 decision against Mikhail Montgomery…
2015 NATIONAL GOLDEN GLOVES CHAMPIONSHIPS – Las Vegas, Nevada, 123 pounds: in his first fight on 5-11-15 he won a 5-0 decision against Mikhail Montgomery; in his second fight on 5-13-15 he defeated Duke Ragan; in the quarterfinals on 5-14-15 he lost against Rubin Villa…
2015 U.S. YOUTH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Reno, Nevada, 123 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in his first fight on 1-5-15 he stopped Fabien Canales in the 2nd round; in his second fight on 1-6-15 he won a 3-0 decision against Daniel Gonzales; in the quarterfinals on 1-7-15 he won a 3-0 decision against Edward Ceballos; in the semifinals on 1-8-15 he won a 3-0 decision against Victor Morales Jr.; in the finals on 1-9-15 he won a 2-1 decision against Duke Ragan…
2014 YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES – Nanjing, People’s Republic of China, 115 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in the quarterfinals (his first fight) on 8-23-14 he won a 3-0 decision against Daniel Asenov of Bulgaria; in the semifinals on 8-24-14 he won a 3-0 decision against Muhammed Ali of England; in the finals on 8-27-14 he won a 3-0 decision against Lu Ping of China…
2014 RINGSIDE WORLD TOURNAMENT – Kansas City, Missouri, 123 pounds/youth division – GOLD MEDALIST: in the quarterfinals (his first fight) on 7-31-14 he defeated Jorge Munoz of the United States; in the semifinals on 8-1-14 he defeated Daniel Bailey of the United States; in the finals on 8-2-14 he defeated Eric Estrada of the United States…
2014 YOUTH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – Sofia, Bulgaria, 115 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in his first fight on 4-17-14 he won a 3-0 decision against Juan Camacho of Puerto Rico; in his second fight on 4-20-14 he won a 3-0 decision against Khursant Imankuliev of Turkey; in the quarterfinals on 4-21-14 he won a 3-0 decision against Carlos Silva of Brazil; in the semifinals on 4-23-14 he won a 3-0 decision against Lu Ping of China; in the finals on 4-24-14 he won a 3-0 decision against Muhammad Ali of England…
2013 WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS – Kiev, Ukraine, 115 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in his first fight on 9-10-13 he won a 3-0 decision against Bakhodur Usmonov of Tajikistan; in his second fight on 9-11-13 he won a 3-0 decision against Aytal Dyakonov of Russia; in the quarterfinals on 9-12-13 he won a 3-0 decision against Valeri Bokoveli of Republic of Georgia; in the semifinals on 9-14-13 he won a 3-0 decision against Baurzhan Temirkhan of Kazakhstan; in the finals on 9-15-13 he won a 3-0 decision against Ruslan Zubachuk of Ukraine…
2013 U.S. JUNIOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Mobile, Alabama, 115 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in the quarterfinals (his first fight) on 6-27-13 he won a 3-0 decision against Marco Diaz; in the semifinals on 6-28-13 he won a 3-0 decision against Victor Morales Jr.; in the finals on 6-29-13 he won a 3-0 decision against Darren Cunningham…
2013 UMAN LIBERATION JUNIOR TOURNAMENT – Uman, Ukraine, 115 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in the quarterfinals (his first fight) on 5-10-13 he won a 3-0 decision against Andriy Klembovskiy of Ukraine; in the semifinals on 5-11-13 he won a 3-0 decision against Yaroslav Pishchik of Ukraine; in the finals on 5-12-13 he stopped Olexandr Babiy of Ukraine…
2012 VELES CUP – Kurgan, Russia, 110 pounds/series of duals: in his first fight on 7-17-12 he won a 9-5 decision against Colm Molloy of Ireland; in his second fight on 7-19-12 he won a 9-3 decision against Andrey Chupchuk of Russia; in his third fight on 7-20-12 he won by walkover against Simon Neubauer of Germany; in his fourth fight on 7-21-12 he won a 12-1 decision against Maksim Mayakovskiy of Russia…
STRENGTHS: A left-hander with good skills, speed, and movement…has good punching power…had a very strong amateur background…has a strong family boxing background…
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: 10 fights…40 total rounds…
AVERAGE LENGTH OF BOUTS: 4 rounds…
KNOCKOUT PERCENTAGE: 60 %…
DISTANCE FIGHTS: 8 rounds – 2 (2-0)…6 rounds – 2 (2-0)…