Via Jim Calfa: Shakur Stevenson appeared poised to defend fans by testing positive for the banned drug phentermine by Oscar Valdez on Wednesday.
By bringing up Valdez’s positive test result, Stevenson, right or wrong, is planting the seeds of doubt in the minds of fans if he is beaten by the undefeated boxer Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. In other words, if Valdez wins, some fans will wonder if he will be supported by PEDS.
You would hope that Stevenson would be on the high road if he lost to Valdez on Saturday night and not mud the water by bringing up his previous positive PED test results and starting to wonder if he are you doing something?
That not only made Stevenson look like a lousy sport, but also adversely affected Valdez’s victory.
Stevenson (17-0.9 KOs) said in an interview that he couldn’t give WBC super featherweight champion Valdez (30-0.23 KOs) because of his spectacular knockout win in the tenth round against former WBC champion Miguel Berchelt last year in February 2021.
“Strictly, I think I’m a much better, faster, faster fighter than him, and I think that’s going to hurt him in the long run when we fight,” Shakur said. Fighthype about his unification match against Valdez on Saturday.
Valdez has never been defeated, and he has fought a lot of different fighters, some with strength and others close to Shakur’s speed. Oscar is about to have a less than impressive win over Robson Conceicao last September in Tucson, Arizona.
“He’s going to get in there and realize it’s not an easy task,” Shakur said. “Oscar Valdez is an undefeated fighter, and he will give his best when he gets into that ring.
“You have to be prepared for that; You have to be ready if I have to weather the storm. With that win, I don’t know if I can give him full credit,” Stevenson said of Oscar Valdez’s 10th-round win over Miguel Berchelt in February 2021.
“He took him down badly, and people didn’t expect it. After that, he [Valdez] caught cheating in the next war. After he was caught cheating, he fought [Robson] Conceicao, and he looks like a whole new boxer.
“He doesn’t look like he did when he fought Berchelt. Maybe he’s up to somethingand for the fight with Conceicao, he had to leave whatever he was using, and it didn’t work.
“I don’t know if I can give him full credit. Is it Oscar Valdez or the drug he’s on? I will never know, but he was arrested. He looked great against Berchelt, and then in the next battle, he was captured.
“Confronting Conceicao, after he was arrested, he didn’t look the same. If he’s not cheating, he looks good [against Berchelt]”Shakur said.
