Boxing Wire

Tag: O’Shaquie Foster

  • O’Shaquie Foster Is Making Case That Is Hard To Argue With And Shakur Stevenson Is Right In The Middle Of It

    O’Shaquie Foster Is Making Case That Is Hard To Argue With And Shakur Stevenson Is Right In The Middle Of It

    O’Shaquie Foster says he deserves a top-10 pound-for-pound ranking after his run of victories and has called on Shakur Stevenson to make good on his word and fight him.

    Foster spoke to BoxingScene after his unanimous decision win over Raymond Ford on May 30 in Houston.

    “I should be top 10. I should be top 10 for sure. If you look at my last five, six fights and you look at any of these other guys that’s top 10, you can see my resume, it’s just crazy. From the different caliber fighters — Rey Vargas, undefeated, two-division champion. I beat him. Then Conceicao, Fulton and then Ray Ford. That resume is just kind of crazy to me. None of them guys fight the same. They all got different styles, different attributes. So, I definitely feel like I’m top 10. Least you can do is eight, nine or 10. Ain’t nobody doing what I’m doing.”

    On Stevenson, Foster said the animosity between them makes the fight inevitable and cited a verbal commitment Stevenson made.

    “We gotta fight. There’s no other way around it. The world wants to see it now and me and him, we got animosity, so we might as well just let it carry over and get it out of the way. Y’all heard what he said. If I give his little man Ray Ford a chance, an opportunity — and I did — now he got to hold up his word.”

    Foster also acknowledged the sessions the two shared in the gym gave him confidence.

    “A few sessions went bad for him, but it was great work. It was high level work, man. But I just believe in myself. He disrespected me. So now it’s time to show the world we got to fight.”

    Foster is 25-3 with 12 knockouts and holds the WBC junior-featherweight title.

  • There’s A Reason Eddie Hearn Chose Houston For The O’Shaquie Foster vs. Raymond Ford Fight

    There’s A Reason Eddie Hearn Chose Houston For The O’Shaquie Foster vs. Raymond Ford Fight

    Eddie Hearn says Raymond Ford could build a long-term home in Houston regardless of how his fight with O’Shaquie Foster plays out, and reflected on the challenges of developing Ford into a marketable star without a consistent fanbase base.

    Hearn spoke to BoxingScene ahead of Saturday’s WBC junior-featherweight title fight at Fertitta Center in Houston.

    “Ray hasn’t built a massive fanbase. He’s from Camden, New Jersey. But what he is is really good, so you have to do something as a promoter to create opportunities. A win would put Ray in that conversation. Neither of them are massive ticket sellers. When we looked at this fight, it was ‘Where do we do this fight?’ O’Shaquie Foster said ‘I don’t want the fight in New Jersey.’ He’s the champion — fair play. So, Vegas? It’s not really a Vegas fight so you go to a smaller arena. And then we started looking at Houston.”

    Hearn was candid about what a win would mean for Ford’s trajectory.

    “If Ray wins he becomes a star. The winner — if Foster wins, he can come back here and fight every time. Ray, maybe he fights in Houston hereafter. He’ll wanna fight Navarrete. He’ll wanna unify — and those fights can take place anywhere.”

    On the emotional stakes of the fight for him personally, Hearn was direct.

    “I’m not going ‘If he wins, we can make some money there’. If he wins, he’s the 18 year old who come into my office in New York and is a two-weight, two-time world champion, which is only really touching the surface of what he could do, and that’s what excites me — and if he loses, he comes again, but he’s not good enough. That’s sport.”

    Foster retained the title via majority decision.

  • O’Shaquie Foster Retains WBC Junior-Featherweight Title With Majority Decision Over Raymond Ford

    O’Shaquie Foster Retains WBC Junior-Featherweight Title With Majority Decision Over Raymond Ford

    O’Shaquie Foster retained his WBC junior-featherweight title with a dominant majority decision over Raymond Ford in Houston on Friday night, winning by scores of 116-112 and 118-110 on two of the three cards with the third judge scoring it a draw at 114-114.

    Foster controlled most of the fight with disciplined counter-punching and movement, largely neutralizing Ford’s attempts to establish his speed advantage. Ford had entered the bout with confidence but struggled to land consistently and was unable to draw Foster into sustained exchanges.

    The win sets Foster up for a potential fight with Shakur Stevenson, who was present at ringside and exchanged words with Foster after the final bell. Foster has now beaten Ford, Stephen Fulton, and several other top junior featherweights in recent years.