Why Did O’Shaquie Foster Lose Faith in Shakur Stevenson?

As WBC super featherweight champion O’Shaquie Foster (25-3, 12 KOs) prepares to unify his titles by facing WBO and IBF champion Emanuel Navarrete (40-2-1, 33 KOs) at the Frost Bank Center on Saturday, he has once again proven he is a name you can’t ignore. But before the fanfare of his upcoming showdown, he had long yearned for one opponent: Shakur Stevenson (25-0, 11 KOs). But why exactly did this matchup not reach fruition?

Speaking to reporters, Foster revealed he initially aimed to fight Stevenson but ended up picking Navarrete.

“The fight I really wanted was Shakur. I wasn’t thinking about Navarrete. The Ray Ford situation was me getting him out the way to get to his friend. But his friend ducked it. Navarrete, yeah, we shook on it back in February, but he’s been ducking me for years,” he said.

Foster’s long-awaited fight with Stevenson never truly moved beyond mutual interest and public callouts. But the distrust between them is rooted in something much older than matchmaking. The duo had trained together and sparred years ago, and Foster says their relationship soured after Stevenson allegedly presented himself as a friend while simultaneously helping Raymond Ford prepare for a potential fight with him. In fact, he even described the latter as “two-faced,” claiming Ford told him that Stevenson intended to work with him extensively if the two eventually met.

The animosity intensified after he beat Ford by majority decision in May, when Stevenson entered the ring and confronted him, creating a combustible face-off that made a fight between them feel inevitable. Foster later claimed Stevenson had told him beating Ford would earn him the fight, and when he did, the promised opportunity evaporated. For him, then, “losing trust” is not simply about a fight falling through; it is about believing Stevenson gave him his word, encouraged the matchup when it was hypothetical, and then changed the terms once Foster actually delivered the win that was supposedly required. That is why the hostility has remained so personal.

“I lost faith in that fight until it was kind of in my face for real. But other than that, I wasn’t really focused on that fight anymore because he had been ducking me for years, and I didn’t think we were going to fight at all, honestly, because of that,” he said.

“He Didn’t Want to Fight Me”

While Stevenson might have avoided the fight, Foster says Navarrete was initially hesitant to fight him. In fact, he even feels that Navarrete’s newfound confidence and bold statements are all part of an elaborate plan to mess up with his mind.

“He didn’t want to fight me. I’m glad it’s happening now. He’s doing a lot of talking, but he better remember he didn’t want to look at me,” he said. “He’s nervous. He’s trying to talk. He’s trying to basically play mind games. I feel like, by saying some of the stuff he’s saying. ‘Oh, I fight like an amateur, or I’m not going to come to fight. Oh, if I don’t come to fight, then it ain’t righteous to fight’.

Joshua Ben Joseph

Joshua Ben Joseph is a Boxing writer renowned for his unparalleled coverage of live events and insightful interviews with prominent athletes in the world of combat sports. With a career spanning over several years, he has authored more than 800 articles. As an experienced editorial cartoonist and investigative journalist, Joshua has a keen eye for detail and a passion for delivering quality content. Aside from his writing, Joshua is an avid powerlifter and solo traveler, embodying the same spirit of determination and exploration that he brings to his work. With a deep love for the sport of boxing that dates back to childhood, he is committed to delivering the highest quality content and helping to build a more transparent and credible industry.

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