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Shakur Stevenson faces a challenging decision as the up-to-date number one contender is announced

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Shakur Stevenson faces tough decision as new number one challenger named

Shakur Stevenson has often been praised for his willingness to fight all opponents, but there is one fighter the 28-year-old has stated he will not fight. Now the newly crowned WBO super lightweight champion may be ordered to fight the man.

Stevenson moved up to super lightweight and dethroned Teofimo Lopez capture the WBO super lightweight crown and become the third-youngest four-division world champion in boxing history.

The WBC has since made the decision to strip Stevenson of his lightweight world title, leaving the Newark fighter wondering whether he should return to 135 pounds without the belt, stay at 140 pounds and defend his up-to-date title, or move up and compete at welterweight again.

Meanwhile, on Stevenson’s undercard, his good friend and former WBO lightweight ruler Keyshawn Davis announced he was a threat to the super lightweight throne by defeating Jamaine Ortiz in the co-main event of the event.

As a result, Davis was named the WBO’s number one contender in that division, as predicted by Stevenson, who planned to allow Davis to fight for the belt after the holidays and return to lightweight.

But the WBC’s decision killed that idea and opened the door to a scenario in which Stevenson could be ordered to defend his up-to-date title against a fighter he had previously declared he would not fight unless he was offered $500 million.

“I understand how you might feel when you don’t understand someone’s relationship with someone, but this is my brother, my right hand man. Why I’m putting on a show in front of you, why I’m fighting with my brother in front of the world, it could screw up our relationship, because at the end of the day, I’m competitive as hell, he’s competitive as hell, and there has to be a winner and a loser.

“I ain’t gonna let niggas beat me, I don’t care who it is. So ultimately that would come between me and his relationship. I don’t care what anyone else thinks about it.”

“Unless mother**** gives us $500 million or some crazy shit that will feed our families for the rest of our lives and generations to come, I don’t care.” [about fighting Keyshawn]it is what it is.”

Fortunately for Stevenson, time is on his side as the WBO is unlikely to order this fight any time soon, and Davis is not expected to stay at 140 pounds long enough to be ticketed.

Instead, Davis is believed to move up to welterweight after calling for a fight with WBO welterweight champion Devin Haney immediately following his victory over Ortiz.

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Tim Bradley Predicts Canelo Alvarez vs Christian Mbilli: Hes Going to Piece Him Up

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Tim Bradley Predicts Canelo Alvarez vs Christian Mbilli: "He's Going to Piece Him Up"

Tim Bradley anticipates a “hell of a fight” unfolding between Canelo Alvarez and Christian Mbilli, but only sees one man emerging victorious on October 31.

The pair will collide in a super-middleweight contest in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with Mbilli making a first defence of his WBC world title.

He was upgraded from ‘interim’ to full champion following the retirement of Terence Crawford, who became the undisputed 168lb king by dethroning Canelo with a unanimous decision victory in September.

That same night, Mbilli defended his then-interim belt with a 10-round draw against Lester Martinez, producing a performance that aptly reflected his high-volume style.

But while the Frenchman does, indeed, force a considerable pace in the ring, many doubt that this will be enough to trump the 36-year-old Canelo.

Despite coming to the end of his decorated career, the Mexican hardly disgraced himself against Crawford and, prior to that, had remained unbeaten since his 2022 defeat to Dmitry Bivol.

Not only that, but many feel Alvarez is a more technically savvy operator than Mbilli, who throws punches in bunches but typically comes forward in straight lines.

It is partly because of this that Hall of Famer Bradley, while speaking with FightHypehas predicted a dominant victory for Canelo.

“He going to piece Mbilli’s ass up. I like Mbilli – tough guy, comes to bring the pain. It’s going to be a hell of a fight. But Canelo going to catch and shoot on his ass all night long.

“Uppercuts, hooks … it’s going to be bad. [Canelo’s] going to look like he’s back [to his best].”

By “catch and shoot”, Bradley means he is expecting Canelo to punish Mbilli with his counterpunching prowess, even if the 31-year-old keeps springing back with relentless aggression.

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Shakur Stevenson Challenges Devin Haney to Step Up Against KO Champion: You Have No Other Option

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"Shakur Stevenson Challenges Devin Haney to Step Up Against KO Champion: 'You Have No Other Option'"

Devin Haney is currently searching for his next opponent and Shakur Stevenson believes there is only one option for him.

Haney hasn’t fought since becoming a three-division world champion when he defeated Brian Norman Jr by unanimous decision to win the WBO welterweight title back in November.

He has been rumoured to face a number of opponents since then, including Stevenson himself, but it looked like ‘The Dream’ would finally settle on a mandatory showdown with Keyshawn Davis after Top Rank won the purse bid for the clash last week.

Those plans went up in smoke when Davis pulled out of the contest, and Stevenson has explained why he thinks Haney now must target a battle against unified super-welterweight champion Jaron Ennis.

“You said you’d fight Conor Benn? You said you’d find Xander. Why the f**k you don’t say you want to fight Boots now? Matter of fact, you’ve got no other option.

“There’s nobody else on the table. There’s no me, there’s no Key[shawn Davis]there’s no Rolly. Who do you go to? Boots is free. Go get him.”

Ennis previously became unified champion at welterweight before moving up to 154lbs, making an instant impact in the new division when he stopped Xander Zayas in June to win the WBA and WBO super-welterweight titles.

It remains to be seen whether Haney would have any interest in moving up in weight to take on Ennis, with ‘Boots’ also having been linked to fights against IBF champion Josh Kelly, and fellow unbeaten star Vergil Ortiz.

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New World Champion Aims to Follow Canelo and Golovkin as Top Middleweight

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"New World Champion Aims to Follow Canelo and Golovkin as Top Middleweight"

A newly-crowned world champion believes he has what it takes to follow in the footsteps of Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin by becoming the best middleweight fighter on the planet.

Canelo and Golovkin each ruled the 160lb division for a number of years, culminating in two middleweight battles between the pair and one at super-middleweight.

While ‘GGG’ may have last competed in 2022, Canelo remains active, but now fights at super-middleweight, opening the door for a fighter to step up and become the top dog in the middleweight division.

One man who believes he can do just that is Aaron McKenna, who won the vacant IBF middleweight title with a unanimous decision win over Etinosa Oliha in Dublin on Saturday.

Speaking to Sky Sports following that win, McKenna explained how he has ambitions to pick up where the likes of Canelo and Golovkin left off.

“It doesn’t matter [who’s next]whoever wants it. I’m easy to find now, I have a belt. There’s no hiding any more. I want to collect every single belt in boxing. I’m the best middleweight and super-middleweight in the world. I don’t mind jumping up.

“The middleweight division’s there to be took over. It’s been dying for years since GGG (Golovkin) and Canelo left it. I said it again, a year ago, I think I’m going to be the man to take it over.”

The other world champions at 160lbs may have a thing or two to say about McKenna’s plan, as Denzel Bentley is the current WBO champion, Carlos Adamas holds the WBC belt, and Erislandy Lara is the WBA titleholder.

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