Former two-division world champion Shakur ‘Fearless’ Stevenson 19-0 (9) is looking for a fight against former unified lightweight champion George ‘Ferocious’ Kambosos Jr 20-2 (10) after other leading contenders turned down the opportunity.
The 25-year-old Newark southpaw claims that Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz 24-2-1 (17) and William Zepeda 27-0 (23) both ducked him.
Stevenson is ranked at number three by the WBC, while Cruz is ranked number number two and Zepeda number four. Kambosos sits in the number five spot, while leading contender Vasiliy Lomachenko 17-2 (11) is expected to face undisputed champion Devin ‘The Dream’ Haney 29-0 (15) in the New Year.
Kambosos is coming off back-to-back unanimous decision losses to Haney in his homeland this year.
The 29-year-old Australian has shown a propensity for taking on the best, opting to take on Haney following his split decision victory over then-WBA, WBO and IBF 135-pound champion Teofimo Lopez 18-1 (13) in November last year.
Stevenson sees a fight against Kambosos as a natural.
“It may be Kambosos, because Pitbull turned me down and Zepeda turned me down,” Stevenson said to FightHubTV. “I know from the rankings that Kambosos is next, so I think it will be Kambosos, probably.”
Part of the problem is promotional rivalries that prevent the best from fighting the best, according to Stevenson.
“I think it’s sad,” Stevenson said. “I think boxing is in a sad state, when fighters can just duck and get away with it. I think that the fans and everybody allowed them to duck. Nobody really got on top of them the way that if I was to do something like that, or Devin, or let’s say anybody you know in the sport.
“If they do that (the fans) gonna hop on they ass, so honestly I feel like boxing is just getting said that they allow fighters to duck like that.
“I don’t know what boxing got going on. It’s not good. I think people should challenge, test themselves out [against those who are] good.”
Stevenson missed weight in his last bout in September by one-and-a-half pounds, forfeiting his WBC and WBO super featherweight titles on the scales. He still defeated quality contender Robson Conceicao 17-2 (8) comfortably on points before committing to moving up one weight class.
