The WBC Officially Strips Shakur Stevenson of His Lightweight Title-Stevenson Lashes Out on X

After one of the biggest wins of his young career, WBO & RING Magazine junior welterweight champ Shakur Stevenson (25-0, 11 KOs) was stripped of his WBC lightweight title by the sanctioning body through an official statement on Wednesday afternoon.

When Stevenson entered Saturday’s fight against Teofimo Lopez, he was the WBC 135-pound champion moving up to compete for the WBO and RING titles at 140. After Stevenson secured the decision on Saturday, he said in the in-ring post-fight interview that he was unsure whether he would go back down to 135 or stay at 140, depending on the monetary value of the matchup.

On Wednesday morning, David Greisman from Boxing Scene reported that the WBC’s website reflected their belt being vacant at 135, while not acknowledging whether it was true or an administrative oversight.

FightsATW received a statement from the WBC through their newsletter, which is sent out to the media, and it stated the following:

“In light of Champion Stevenson now being the reigning WBO Super Lightweight World Champion and consistent with the WBC Rules & Regulations, the WBC has declared vacant its Lightweight World title.

“The WBC wishes Champion Stevenson continued success in all his future endeavors, both inside and outside the ring.

“The WBC will provide further information regarding the process to crown a new Lightweight World Champion in the near future.”

Stevenson was not happy about the WBC’s decision and tweeted “100k to some crooks who don’t deserve it? Nah Leilani I rather give it to u baby girl.. The WBC didn’t even have shit to do with this fight and it’s eating them alive take your belt it don’t make me” and followed with another tweet saying “And I just paid these dudes after my last fight.. What the hell im giving yall 100k right now for? Because yall got beef with Bud so come at me for it.”

The current WBC interim champion should be O’Shaquie Foster at 135 since he beat Stephen Fulton Jr. in December, and the fight was made into an interim lightweight title bout due to Fulton being overweight. Currently, the WBC website is reflecting Jadier Herrera (18-0, 16 KOs) as the interim champion. More confusion from the WBC, but as of this letter, one thing is clear: Stevenson is no longer the champion.

Abraham Gonzalez

Abraham Gonzalez is the founder of FightsATW. His journalistic work has been published and used across several platforms to include online, network TV and promotional companies. He is an American Public University alumnus and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). Abraham was the Managing Editor for NYFights, Big Fight Weekend, contributed to FanSidedMMA and ProBoxTV.

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