Shakur Stevenson Not Impressed By Garcia’s KO-Win Over Duarte
Shakur Stevenson has reacted to Ryan Garcia’s win over Oscar Duarte by downplaying his knockout.
Garcia stopped Duarte in round eight, as his trademark left hook to the temple set up a flurry of punches to win. Although the victory was vital for Garcia’s aim of winning a world title, Stevenson felt the fighter had shown many weaknesses.
Garcia’s body was once again a topic of conversation amongst the boxing fanbase, as Duarte’s body shot in the seventh round had Garcia not engaging by moving around the ring. That set up a chorus of boos as it echoed back to the time that Gervonta Davis had stopped Garcia. Meanwhile, Garcia’s attempts at employing the shoulder roll received a mixed response, with the fighter looking not a hundred percent comfortable. With that being said, Stevenson felt he had the measure of the fighter.
Shakur On Garcia
“It looked like he [Oscar Duarte] fought a tailor-made style for him. A guy [Duarte] coming straight forward with a high guard right in front of him. I think I saw a lot of weakness in his game. His [Ryan] inside game looked trash. His right hand looked really bad. It looked like he don’t really know how to throw his right hand. He had a style in front of him that really worked for him. You could clearly see,” Stevenson said
This naturally begs the question: what will happen moving forward? Well, Stevenson has stated that he is prepared to face Garcia at a catchweight. However, following his own win over Edwin De Los Santos, the boxing fan base may not be too forgiving to see that fight.
Stevenson fought on the back foot to win a unanimous-decision to get the WBC belt, which resulted in the crowd booing. And given that Garcia had suffered some boos in the round before the stoppage, seeing both fighters in the ring avoiding each other would not sit well.
Teofimo Vs Garcia
Outside of Stevenson, a fight with Teofimo Lopez had been mentioned. The Takeover confirmed that he had turned down a $1.5 million offer to fight Garcia on the grounds that it did not reflect his commercial worth. And given that Lopez is a two-weight and two-time lineal champion, those comments were understandable. Although that may have been the case, Oscar De La Hoya denied making such an offer. But in any event, Stevenson felt Garcia would come up short.
“Ryan has been boxing his whole life. So he got the same style that he had as a little kid. Nothing different. I don’t see nothing different. Teo by knockout. Teo is too skillful for him,” Stevenson stated
One thing that Garcia does have on his side is the ability to make the big fights due to his commercial value. And with a social media following of over 10 million on Instagram, the fighter will always have a positive say in negotiations. So fights against Stevenson and Lopez could play out moving ahead.
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