Ryan Garcia names the man to beat Shakur Stevenson: “I’m siding with him”

Ryan Garcia has named the fighter that he believes can put an end to Shakur Stevenson’s 25-fight undefeated record.

Stevenson stepped up in weight to dominate Teofimo Lopez and claim the WBO super-lightweight title back in January, fully intending on returning to his natural lightweight division during the aftermath, until those plans were derailed when he was stripped of his 135lb title.

As a result, Stevenson has kept hold of his 140lb marble but has not fought since, despite links to a showdown with Garcia in spring, which collapsed when the Newark southpaw declared that he would not be willing to move up in weight once again.

Now, Garcia is scheduled to face Conor Benn next month, whilst Stevenson has recently signed with Zuffa Boxing and is searching for an opponent for his second outing of 2026.

Speaking to FightHype, Garcia revealed that he would favour IBF lightweight world champion Raymond Muratalla to come out on top if he and Stevenson collide.

“That would be a good a** fight. He [Muratalla] is smart, he is not going to just go in there and just [be reckless].

“I just think that Raymond has a lot of things that would give Shakur problems. It won’t be an easy fight for Shakur, that is for sure. 

“[If it was] a three-round fight, I would give it to Shakur, even a six-round fight. A 12-round fight? I am siding with Muratalla.”

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Muratalla is set to vacate his IBF crown and move into the super-lightweight division imminently, with the WBO having recently stated that he could be named as Stevenson’s mandatory challenger when he does.