Shakur Stevenson stopped Japan's Shuichiro Yoshino in six rounds to win on his lightweight debut; the former featherweight and super-featherweight champion says he wants to next face the winner of the May clash between undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney and Vasiliy Lomachenko
Sunday 9 April 2023 10:23, UK
Shakur Stevenson marked his lightweight debut with a dominant stoppage win over Shuichiro Yoshino before calling out the division's undisputed champion Devin Haney.
The former featherweight and super-featherweight world champion made light work of his previously unbeaten Japanese opponent, knocking down Yoshino in the second and fourth rounds before the referee stopped the contest in the sixth session of a hugely one-sided contest.
Stevenson moved up to the 135lbs limit after being stripped of his super-featherweight titles in September last year having failed to make weight for a title defence against Robson Conceicao, and the 25-year-old immediately looked comfortable in his new setting.
The 2016 Olympic silver-medallist's professional record now stands at 20-0 with 10 knockouts, and he has immediately set his sights on a clash with fellow American Haney after becoming the mandatory challenger for the division's WBC title.
Haney (29-0) is scheduled to defend his belts against former champion Vasiliy Lomachenko in Las Vegas on May 20, live on Sky Sports, and Stevenson says he is ready to take on the winner, but appeared to hold particular confidence over a potential matchup with the current champion.
"Tell them 'come on'," Stevenson said in the ring after his victory in New Jersey.
"I've been waiting for this for a long time.
"Me and Devin been in the ring with each other for years, I always got the best of Devin.
"Tell him 'come on'."
Yoshino, who was fighting outside of Japan for the first time, went into the contest sitting fourth in the WBC's lightweight rankings.
Jared Anderson continued his ascent through the heavyweight ranks by maintaining his perfect record with a knockout victory over George Arias on the undercard.
The 23-year-old America has now won all 14 of his professional contest by knockout, and took just three rounds to get the better of the previously unbeaten Arias on Saturday night.
After a cagey couple of opening rounds, Anderson opened the contest up with a left uppercut in the third, following it with a flurry of punches that left Arias on unsteady legs as he made his way back to his corner when the bell sounded.
Following a lengthy check from medics in the corner, a decision was made to pull Arias out of the contest, leaving Anderson to celebrate.
"I'm different, I'm nice. I'm the best heavyweight in the world," Anderson said. "I made that look easy man, because he helped me make it look easy. He wasn't throwing punches for real. I kept my defence tight. My jab was on point. It was an easy night."
Anderson is currently ninth with WBO, and 11th in the WBC and WBA heavyweight rankings, and claims he is ready to fight anyone in the division.
"Those top names, those top contenders, everybody who keep calling people out, put my name on the list now," he added. "I'm not ducking, I'm not running, and you're gonna catch this smoke."
