Shakur Stevenson to vacate WBC and WBO titles after missing weight, will move up to 135 pounds

Boxing

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Shakur Stevenson
Shakur Stevenson missed weight for his bout with Robson Conceicao on Thursday and confirmed he will move up a weight class. (Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)

Shakur Stevenson is done fighting at 130 pounds.

Stevenson confirmed on Twitter on Thursday that he will no longer compete at 130 pounds, meaning that he will be stripped of both his WBC and WBO super-featherweight world titles.

Competing at that weight class, he said, just isn’t healthy for the 25-year-old anymore.

“I gave it my all,” Stevenson said. “I’ve been professional my whole career and made weight, but my body just can’t make 130 anymore. My health has to come first.”

Stevenson missed weight on Thursday by about 1.6 pounds ahead of his scheduled bout against Robson Conceicao this weekend.

The fight, set for the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, was going to be Stevenson’s first at home with his titles. The fight will still happen, but only Conceicao can win the titles — which Stevenson will officially vacate once the fight ends.

Conceicao, a 2016 Olympic gold medalist, holds a 17-1 record with eight knockouts but lost for the first time in his pro career last year.

Stevenson holds an 18-0 record with nine knockout wins, with his last victory coming against Oscar Valdez in April. Stevenson will start competing at 135 pounds after Friday’s fight, a move that had largely been expected in the near future even before he missed weight.

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