When 25-year-old superstar boxer Shakur Stevenson steps into the ring on Friday night to fight Robson Conceicao, he will do so without his WBC and WBO super-featherweight world titles.
Stevenson weighed in on Thursday at 1.6 pounds above the 130-pound weight limit. The penalty for missing weight is a loss of title(s).
But not all is bad.
For Conceicao, he’ll still have an opportunity to claim the titles with a win over Stevenson. However, his odds (+600 Tipico Sportsbook) suggest that he’ll be in for quite the challenge against the undefeated Newark native.
As far as what this all means for Stevenson? He’s identified that his body just can’t make 130 pounds anymore. After this fight, he says he’ll be moving up to 135, a weight division that includes many household names in the sport.
A fighter losing world titles on the scales is never good to see, but it's hard not to get excited by Shakur Stevenson moving up to join Devin Haney, Gervonta Davis, Ryan Garcia, Vasyl Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr at lightweight.
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) September 22, 2022
Assuming Stevenson gets past Conceicao on Friday, his future at 135 pounds should be fun.