Zuffa Boxing makes splash with signing of four-division champion Shakur Stevenson

Midway via its first 12 months as a promotion, Zuffa Boxing made a serious splash on Thursday by saying its largest signing up to now within the type of unbeaten, four-division champion Shakur Stevenson.  

UFC CEO and president Dana White made the announcement public on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” that the 29-year-old Stevenson (25-0, 11 KOs), a 2016 U.S. Olympic silver medalist and present WBO titleholder at 140 kilos, had joined a rising Zuffa roster that already contains Jai Opetaia, Conor Benn, Edgar Berlanga, Richardson Hitchins, Jason Moloney and Jose Valenzuela. 

“Line them up, one after the other, and I am going to beat all the highest guys as soon as I get them in entrance of me,” Stevenson mentioned in a press launch. “With Zuffa Boxing, I will go after the most important fights within the sport and I’ll grow to be the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter on the earth.”

Stevenson, a fixture within the high 10 of most P4P lists, has captured world titles in 4 divisions between 126 and 140 kilos and owns title victories over the likes of Jamel Herring, Oscar Valdez, Robson Conceicao, Edwin De Los Santos and William Zepeda. 

In January, Stevenson scored his largest victory up to now inside New York’s Madison Sq. Backyard when he moved as much as junior welterweight and pitched a close to shutout by dominating WBO champion Teofimo Lopez. 

“Shakur is without doubt one of the greatest P4P fighters on the earth,” White mentioned. He is 29, undefeated and already a four-division world champion. This can be a large signing for Zuffa Boxing, and I am trying ahead to selling this subsequent struggle.”

A slick southpaw with the uncommon capacity to have the ability to stand in entrance of opponents and ship clear punches with out getting hit in return, the native of Newark, New Jersey, is among the many greatest defensive and most technical boxers on the planet as we speak. 

Stevenson, who turned professional in 2017, was pressured to consistently transfer up in weight after being prevented by most of the large names in every of his divisions. 

Though particulars about his contract and a debut date weren’t made public, Stevenson was not too long ago known as out by Valenzuela, a Zuffa light-weight boxer and former 140-pound titleholder, following his June knockout of De Los Santos, a former Stevenson opponent who went the gap with him, of their rematch.