5. Shakur Stevenson (24-0, 11 KOs)
Shakur Stevenson is from Newark, New Jersey and was born on June 28, 1997. Named after Tupac Shakur, he began boxing at the age of five, and won a gold medal in the Youth Olympics and Youth World Championships in 2014. He went on to compete in the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil, getting the silver medal.
In February 2017, Shakur turned pro and defeated Edgar Brito. He won ten fights before competing for the WBO featherweight title against Joet Gonzalez. He won by unanimous decision for his first world title before moving up to the super featherweight division.
Shakur defeated Felix Caraballo, Toka Khan Clary, and Jeremia Nakathila before facing Jamel Herring for the WBO super featherweight title in October of 2021. He dominated the bout en route to a stoppage victory to become a two division champion. In his next bout, Shakur defeated Oscar Valdez to win the WBC title. Months later he defeated Robson Conceicao before competing in the lightweight division.
At lightweight, Shakur stopped Shuichiro Yoshino before taking on Edwin De Los Santos for the WBC lightweight title. He won by decision to become a three division champion. In 2024, Shakur defended that title against Artem Harutyunyan where he cruised to a decision win. He suffered a hand injury which sidelined him until February 2025 where he defeated Josh Padley by stoppage.
Months after the win against Padley, Stevenson took on William Zepeda in New York and cruised to decision win. This year Stevenson defeated Teofimo Lopez to become the lineal champion at super lightweight. As a three division champion, Stevenson is viewed as the best defensive fighter in the sport.
