Shakur Stevenson Wants To Be Put on The Fast Track

By Steve Kim

As Shakur Stevenson impressively thrashed Patrick Riley in Philadelphia on April 28th, it was by far his most impressive outing as a professional.

"Yeah, I would definitely say that the best I've looked," agreed the 2016 Olympic silver medalist who represented the United States. "I feel like I'm a lot more comfortable now."

He returns this Saturday on the Jeff Horn-Terence Crawford undercard at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas where he is matched up with Aelio Mesquita from Brazil.

Stevenson (6-0, 3 KO's) says of his foe, "I know that he's 16-1 with 14 knockouts so he's got to have s a little bit of power but I've seen the guys he's been fighting. He's never really been in the ring with someone like me so he's going to get a whiff of Shakur Stevenson."

Despite his relative inexperience and being a professional for just over a year, the 20-year old southpaw from Newark, New Jersey believes he can be put on the fast track.

"I feel there's some champions, that they've got titles and I can beat them, right now," said the young featherweight, who was signed out of the Olympics by Top Rank.

Also on the undercard tonight, Jose Pedraza (23-1, 12 KOs), from Cidra, Puerto Rico, will challenge Antonio Moran (22-2, 15 KOs) in a 10-rounder for the WBO Latino lightweight belt; light heavyweight prospect Steve Nelson (10-0, 8 KOs) will take on Dashon Webster (10-1, 6 KOs) in a six-rounder; and 18-year-old super featherweight sensation Gabe Flores Jr (7-0, 5 KOs) will face Jorge Rojas (4-3-1, 2 KOs) in a six-round bout.

And, in a battle of unbeatens, welterweight contender Jose Benavidez (26-0, 17 KOs) will face the iron-fisted Frank Rojas (22-0, 21 KOs) of Caracas, Venezuela, in a 10-rounder.

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.