Shakur Stevenson spends a lot of his leisurely time in the Houston area. From training to quality time with family, H-Town is his home away from home.
The boiling-hot state doesn’t get a ton of fights lately but Ryan Garcia strolled into town to take on Oscar Duarte. Stevenson, 26, didn’t have a ton lined up on his schedule and figured why not head down and enjoy a few good fights? For Garcia, it was his first appearance since his seventh-round stoppage loss at the hands of Gervonta Davis.
From the beginning, Duarte pressed the issue, he moved forward, kept a high guard, and attempted to rip his head off. Garcia though, kept his cool and showed off a few new wrinkles in his game. He boxed, he moved, and he also used his own version of the shoulder roll.
After mostly controlling his man, Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) finally landed the shot he was looking for, leading to an eighth-round stoppage win. Stevenson, from his ringside seat, was somewhat impressed by Garcia. However, the former Olympic silver medalist noticed that the wildly popular star has a tendency to use the same weapon over and over again.
“He only got a left hook,” said Stevenson during an interview with 210 Boxing TV.
Over the past few weeks, both Stevenson and Garcia used every derogatory word you could think of to describe one another. Although Garcia took on Duarte at a catchweight of 143 pounds, and Stevenson (21-0, 10 KOs) competes in the lightweight division, he suggested that Garcia should lose a few pounds and meet him in the ring in 2024.
Stevenson knows good and well that Garcia is a talented fighter. But, when juxtaposed to himself, he doesn’t believe that the comparisons are close.
“I’m a better fighter than him.”