Fifteen Years Old And Still Bringing It Up
Right then. Shakur Stevenson was on the Paramount+ broadcast on Saturday watching Ryan Garcia flatten Conor Benn, and he was asked the obvious question.
His answer: he would love to fight him. They have unfinished business. They fought in the amateurs at fifteen years old and, in Stevenson's words, Garcia still cries about it to this day.
For the record, Stevenson won that 2013 amateur bout. And you can tell from the way he brings it up unprompted, thirteen years later, that he has never once let it go.
Why This Is A Real Fight And Not Just Talk
Garcia has been asking for Stevenson publicly since he beat Mario Barrios in February. Stevenson has now answered in kind on a live broadcast. Both men are signed to Zuffa Boxing. There is no promotional war to fight here, which in 2026 makes it about as frictionless as boxing gets.
Stevenson is coming off the best win of his career, a unanimous decision over Teofimo Lopez in January that took the WBO super-lightweight title. He has not announced a date, a venue or an opponent since. He is twenty-nine, he is in his prime, and he is sitting idle.
Garcia is twenty-eight, he is WBC welterweight champion, and he has just reminded everybody in ninety seconds what happens when he lands cleanly.
The Two Things That Will Get In The Way
First, the belt. If Stevenson wants to keep the WBO strap he is looking at a mandatory defence against Raymond Muratalla, who has climbed to the top of that sanctioning body's 140lb list. Muratalla is not a soft touch and he is not a name that sells a stadium, which is the worst possible combination for a champion with bigger plans.
Second, the weight. Garcia has campaigned at welterweight for three fights now. Stevenson has never boxed above 140. A meeting in the middle means something around 144lb, which is the same catchweight Stevenson and Devin Haney have already been arguing about on social media.
Two catchweight fights, one fighter, both of them needing somebody else to agree. That is how fights die.
Who Actually Wins It
Let's not beat around the bush. On pure boxing ability Stevenson is levels above him.
He is the cleanest defensive operator in the sport, he punches in straight lines, he does not get hit with the wide right hand that has ended a dozen Garcia opponents, and he has the ring intelligence to make an aggressive man look silly for twelve rounds.
The counter-argument is the one you always hear about Stevenson and it is not nothing: he has never taken a shot like the one Garcia landed on Benn, and at 144 with Garcia rehydrating from above he would be taking one. Garcia only needs to be right once. That is a genuine variable.
But a genuine variable is not the same as a genuine edge.
Luke’s Verdict
Make no mistake, this is a proper fight and it should be made while both men are in their prime rather than in four years when one of them is looking for a pension.
My call: Stevenson beats Garcia over twelve rounds on a wide unanimous decision if it happens at 144lb. Too clever, too quick, too disciplined, and the one thing Garcia needs is the one thing Stevenson never gives anybody.
My other call, less fun: it does not get made in 2027. Muratalla gets ordered, Garcia takes the Teofimo unification, and we all spend another year talking about a fight two lads had when they were fifteen. More on the 140lb picture on our news page.