The World Boxing Council’s fifth-ranked lightweight Shuichiro Yoshino of Misako Boxing Gym held a press conference at the gym on Feb. 7 that he wants to ‘’break’’ the heart of third-ranked Shakur Stevenson of the United States in their Apr. 8 (Apr. 9 Japan time) fight in the State of New Jersey to decide a challenger to the WBC champion.

The 31-year-old Yoshino said, ‘’Since I have always wanted to fight in the U.S., I am simply happy. I hope to fight the undisputed world champion (Haney) by winning the fight with Stevenson (although Haney is likely to take on top-ranked WBC lightweight Vasyl Lomachenko of Ukraine in May).

The scheduled 12-rounder with the 25-year-old Stevenson will be held at the state’s Prudential Center in Newark as boxing promotion company Top Rank Inc. announced earlier.

While some experts think Yoshino has hard luck since undefeated Stevenson, who has so far captured the World Boxing Organization’s world featherweight and super featherweight titles, is left-handed blessed with speed and techniques, Yoshino brushed it aside by saying, ‘’I made an instantaneous decision to accept the fight because there are many monsters among the top-ranked lightweight boxers. I have to beat them if I am to win the title.’’

His trainer Hiroki Shiino echoed his view by saying, ‘’I also think fighting with Stevenson is better than fighting with a mediocre boxer.’’

But Yoshino, also undefeated, is regarded as superior to Stevenson in terms of the physical frame and power as he has been fighting at lightweight for many years since turning pro in 2015 after 124 amateur bouts.

While it will be the first fight for Yoshino to fight with a southpaw since turning pro, it will also be the first lightweight fight for Stevenson, which is an advantageous factor for Yoshino, who said determinedly, ‘’I will break his heart as I want people outside Japan to know there is Yoshino in Japan.’’

According to the gym’s head Takashi Misako, Yoshino does not have a timid personality at all.
Stevenson, the bantamweight silver medalist in the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympics, has 19 straight wins, including nine knockouts. For his part, Yoshino has 16 wins, 12 by KO.