Stevenson’s case rests on movement. He has won titles at featherweight, junior lightweight, and light-weight. He believes that range should carry more weight than fighters who built their standing in a single division or only moved once.
“Loads of people stayed at that one weight class,” Stevenson said. “They got their accomplishments there. Or they went up to at least one other weight. But I went up to at least one, two, three.”
That argument leaves out the purpose critics return to. Stevenson won belts, however the opposition, including Joet Gonzalez, a 35-year-old Jermell Herring, and Edwin De Los Santos, was not the strongest available on the time. Those wins count, but none forced a division to react or reset around him. That has shaped how his run is judged.
Stevenson maintains he did what the structure allowed.
“It ain’t never been my fault that the titles were vacated,” he said. “I ended up fighting the primary and number two. People complain about fighters being emailed the belt, then complain a couple of fighter like me who fought the primary and number two guy.”
The criticism is about selection, since Stevenson had leverage and didn’t press for tougher opponents. At featherweight, Rafael Espinoza was available. At 130, O’Shaquie Foster was there. At 135, Abdullah Mason presented real risk. Those fights would have carried more weight than belt collection alone.
As a substitute, Stevenson defended titles without testing the deepest end of every division. That kept his position secure, but limited how far it carried.
As he moves to 140, the identical query follows him. Gary Antuanne Russell and Richardson Hitchins remain energetic against opponents who carry real risk. At that weight, the usual is higher, and people are the fights that are inclined to shift how a fighter is viewed.
Pound for pound lists are subjective, but they have a tendency to reward fighters who make difficult decisions. Until those show up consistently, the seventh reflects how Stevenson’s profession has been managed, not how expert he’s.