Shakur Stevenson is currently one of the most talented fighters in the sport, but Manny Pacquiao believes that one of his former opponents would have had Stevenson’s number if they met in their primes.
Stevenson has boxed between featherweight and super-lightweight, winning a world title in each to become a four-division conqueror, but he has struggled to find the willing dance partners who could make him a global superstar.
In January, the undefeated southpaw notched a career-best victory over Teofimo Lopez and the Newark sensation is now on the hunt for further opponents with big profiles, in pursuit of recognition as boxing’s pound-for-pound number one.
Although, whilst Stevenson may indeed be the most skilful operator in the sport, boxing’s only eight-division world champion Pacquiao told Inside The Ring that he believes Shane Mosley would have been too much for the 28-year-old, if they collided when both were at their best.
“Shakur Stevenson vs Shane Mosley in his prime? I’m going Mosley. Mosley has speed and combinations in his prime. If you watch Mosley in his prime, he’s very good. Hard to hit and can move around.”
Mosley ruled in three weight divisions, but lost almost every round to Pacquiao (120-107, 120-108, 119-108) when he challenged for the Filipino icon’s WBO welterweight world title back in 2011.
Still, Mosley boasts two famous wins over Oscar De La Hoya, as well as impressive stoppage triumphs over Antonio Diaz and Antonio Margarito, but the Californian hung up the gloves with a record which did not reflect his quality – retiring at 49-10-1 in 2016.
As for the fantasy fight, Stevenson would disagree. In fact, he has said himself that he believes he would ‘smoke’ Pacquiao had they been in the same era, so a similar prediction would be directed Mosley’s way.