O'Shaquie Foster's Next Move

O'Shaquie Foster retained his WBC featherweight/" class="internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2">super-featherweight title against Raymond Ford last month and has already decided who he wants next.

"Hopefully the next fight we get is Shakur or Emanuel Navarrete. It could be 135 or 140. We don't need rehydration clauses or none of that. I don't need any of that. We're going to take it old school,” Foster

Foster and Stevenson spent time as sparring partners before their relationship deteriorated publicly, a falling-out that Foster has now addressed directly.

"I wouldn't be so adamant getting at him, making the fight happen. But he disrespected me as a man. Of course I'm going to fight other people, I don't care about that, but Stevenson is my number one target,” Foster

Stevenson (22-0) is the WBC lightweight champion following a dominant performance against Teofimo Lopez in January and has been one of the division's most technically polished fighters for years. His name keeps appearing in multiple conversations simultaneously — Gervonta Davis has been exchanging social media jabs with him for weeks, and now Foster is publicly declaring him a primary target. The demand for a Stevenson fight across multiple weight classes reflects how highly the sport regards him as an opponent worth beating, whatever the personal dynamics involved.

Foster, for his part, has been consistently underrated for most of his career. The Ford defence continued a run that has established him as one of the more reliable champions in the super-featherweight division, and the willingness to travel to 135 pounds to fight Stevenson suggests a confidence in his own capabilities that goes beyond what his public profile might suggest.

Navarrete remains a backup option rather than a consolation. The Mexican champion is a legitimate and dangerous opponent at any weight, and a Foster-Navarrete fight would be meaningful in its own right. But Foster's language made the hierarchy clear. Navarrete is the alternative. Stevenson is the target.