Shakur Stevenson is an American professional boxer. He has held the WBO featherweight title since 2019 and challenged once for the WBC silver featherweight title in 2020. As of May 2021, Stevenson is ranked as the world’s third best active featherweight by The Ring magazine, fourth by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and fifth by BoxRec.
Born in Newark, New Jersey, Stevenson started boxing at the age of five. As an amateur, he won a gold medal in the bantamweight division at the 2015 World Championships, followed by a silver medal in the same division at the 2016 Olympics. Stevenson turned professional in 2017 and won his first eighteen fights before challenging Joet Gonzalez for the WBO featherweight title in 2019.
He won the bout via unanimous decision to become the youngest world champion in boxing at the age of 22. Stevenson made one successful title defense in 2020 against Miguel Marriaga before losing his title via technical knockout to Josh Warrington in his second defense in 2021.
Shakur Stevenson Mother, Malikah Stevenson
Malikah Stevenson is of Puerto Rican descent. Duo met when Malikah was six months pregnant. He did not let Shakur feel his father’s absence by taking great care of him and making him the champion he is today. They exchanged vows and tied knots and have been together ever since. She is a native of Oakland. The first child of Malikah and her husband was given the name Ash-Shakur Nafi Shahid Stevenson.
Shakur Stevenson Step-Father, Shahid Guyton
Stevenson’s biological father, who was of Puerto Rican descent was not a part of Shakur’s life. He took up boxing at age five under his grandfather Wali Moses and cites Andre Ward as his influence.
Moreover, Shakur Stevenson has still not forgotten his roots. He still shares a close connection with his parents. When he was younger and had just started to learn boxing, his mother would often tell him that he needed to show more aggression in the ring if he wanted to become a successful boxer.
And it was this advice that Shakur took to heart. It was this drive and determination that helped him win multiple championships as an amateur before turning professional. And now, as he prepares for his first title defense against Joet Gonzalez, Stevenson still keeps his family close to his heart. “I’m doing this for my city, I’m doing this for Newark,” said Stevenson. “I want to put on a great performance for them.”
Stevenson is currently undefeated as a professional and is ranked as the number two featherweight in the world by the WBO. He will be looking to continue his winning ways when he steps into the ring against Gonzalez on October 12th.