“I Forever Look Upto Him”: Years After Parting Ways With Hall of Famer, Shakur Stevenson Pens Message of Appreciation for Andre Ward

It took Angelo Dundee for the world to understand the boxing mastery of Muhammad Ali. It took Cus D’Amato to pull a pearl—Mike Tyson—from the shell. Undoubtedly, the job of a trainer or mentor resembles that of a sculptor, who chisels rough stones into fine statues. Without the guiding hands of the mentor, the boxer stays where he is—unrefined and immature.

In another few weeks, Shakur Stevenson will undergo one of the most significant tests of his 6-year-old career. As he prepares himself for a slugfest with the hard-hitting Dominican Edwin De Los Santos, the 2016 Olympic silver medalist remembers one of the people who helped him during those nascent years, hand-holding him to a stage where he is now recognized as one of the brightest stars of boxing.

Shakur Stevenson pays homage to former mentor Andre Ward

Taking to his X, the erstwhile Twitter account, the two-division champion paid homage to his former mentor, Andre Ward. Stevenson said that, without a doubt, Ward was a crucial figure in his early professional development. And if truth be told, he remains so even today, perhaps more so than he could realize. ‘Sugar’ emphasized that he respects and admires the former champion so much. Andre Ward had been rock solid through everything. The Newark, New Jersey-born southpaw stressed that he could always count on the ‘Son of God.’

Early this year, Shakur Stevenson joined the Lightweight division and fought off Shuichiro Yoshino convincingly. An opportunity to square off against the undisputed champion, Devin Haney, came. But Stevenson, unhappy with his share of the split, refused to go with the deal. Haney subsequently announced a move to the Light Welterweight, leaving his WBC belt vacant. Now it’s between Stevenson and Los Santos, who need to settle the argument on who will be the next WBC Lightweight champion.

A brief but dynamic partnership

Per available reports, sometime before his professional debut on April 22, 2017, Shakur Stevenson joined Top Rank. However, he announced Andre Ward would be joining as a co-manager. James Prince and Josh Dubin, as the other two managers, completed the team. It was a dream run that saw Stevenson grab his first world title, the vacant WBO Featherweight title, in 2019. However, roughly a year later, Stevenson and Ward went their separate ways, though the former continued with Top Rank.

A 2004 Athens Olympic gold medalist, Andre Ward, 2021 class, is an International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee. He became the unified Super Middleweight and later Light Heavyweight champion in a career that spanned thirteen years. He retired in 2017 with an unbeaten record where nearly half of his wins came through early stoppages. Subsequent years saw him join ESPN as one of the boxing analysts. However, the journey with the sports channel ended this year.

Read More: Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz Reveals Real Reason Why Shakur Stevenson Fight Never Came to Fruition

Do you think Stevenson should go after Gervonta Davis for title unification after he wins the Los Santos fight? Please share your views with us in the comments below.

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