PRIDE FIGHT
Newark’s Stevenson faces pressure fist-first as boxing’s next big thing
SHAKUR Stevenson was sitting in the lobby of the Stewart Hotel across from the Garden on Wednesday afternoon doing what just about every 19-yearold does these days, staring at his cellphone. He wore a black T-shirt with white lettering that read “Just a kid from Newark.” No one in the busy lobby noticed him, leaving him alone to text friends or explore social media. He should enjoy the quiet moments now because it won’t be long before Stevenson won’t be able to sit in public without somebody asking for his autograph or his picture if things go according to plan. Already known in boxing circles, Stevenson is targeted to be one of the sport’s next big superstars after earning a silver medal at the Olympics in Rio. Now his quest is to win a world title as a professional, a process that takes its next step Saturday night when he fights at the Garden on the undercard of the main event featuring Terrence Crawford against Brooklynbased Felix Diaz. Stevenson trained for this fight in the altitude at Colorado Springs and iis looking toto expandexpand on hhis pro debutbut in which he won a six-round ununanimous technical decision over Edgar Brito on April 22 iin Carson, Calif. The bout was stopped moments into ththe sixth round when a ringside doctor ruled BBrito was cut too badly to contincontinue after an earlier clash of heads.
“I felt my first fight was a great fight,” Stevenson said. “My opponent had a good chin. I think this fight will be even better.”
Stevenson will face Carlos Caston Suarez (6-3-2, 1 KO) of Argentina in a sixround featherweight bout. He said he expects to have plenty of fans and friends from Newark in attendance.
“I’m looking to perform for all the people that are coming here to support me,” Stevenson said. “I can’t wait. This feels a lot more like home than my f irst fight in [Los Angeles].”
When much of the public last saw Stevenson, he was in tears last summer after losing his gold medal bout to Robeisy Ramirez of Cuba on a close decision. Now he cherishes the accomplishment.
“After the Olympics it took me a minute to understand what went down,” he said. “I was so mad that I didn’t win gold I didn’t realize that a lot of people my age never had that opportunity. Now I’m grateful I had that Olympic experience.”
A huge parade in Newark held in his honor helped him realize capturing silver was special. It was the highest finish by a U.S. boxer since Andre Ward won gold in Athens in 2004.
“That was the best time of my life, coming home to people I grew up with and people that had supported me,” Stevenson said. “Hopefully, I’ll get another key to the city when I win a world title.”
Stevenson signed with Bob Arum’s Top Rank following the Olympics. Ward, the current light heavyweight champion, serves as his manager along with Antonio Leonard and James Prince. The plan is not to rush Stevenson into a title fight, though Top Rank’s Carl Moretti expects him to be a champion “sooner rather than later.” At 5-foot-8 and still a teenager, Stevenson has to grow into his body. “He’s only 19 and this will be his second pro fight,” Moretti said. “But when you watch him fight you would think he had 20 fights already.”
Stevenson has been compared to a young Floyd Mayweather for his speed and movement. The high expectations don’t bother Stevenson, who says he’s only out to please himself and his grandfather, Walli Moses, who serves as his trainer. “Pressure either busts pipes or makes diamonds and it’s been making me a diamond for my whole career,” Stevenson said. “I’m not going to stop being a diamond now.”
Moses has been in the fight game for 40 years as a boxer, mixed martial artist and trainer. He hears the Mayweather comparisons and thinks his grandson can achieve similar success, if not more.
“My opinion is he has a good opportunity to be even better than Floyd Mayweather,” Moses said. “He has all the skills and he’s won things that a whole lot of people in the United States have never won before. So I think he’s well on his way to make an impression that he can be as great as Floyd or even better.”
Well, right now, he’s just a kid from Newark.
Another 2016 Olympian, Charles Conwell of Cleveland, will be fighting for the second time as a pro Thursday night as part of a Broadway Boxing card at the Paramount Theater on the campus of LIU-Brooklyn.
Conwell (1-0, 1 KOs) faces Daniel Szoros (2-1, 2 KOs) of Hungary. In the main event, Heather “The Heat” Hardy (19-0, 4 KOs) fights Hungary’s Edina Kiss (14-3, 8 KOs).