Shakur Stevenson recalled a brutal sparring session with Terence Crawford in 2015.
Stevenson has become a well-respected name in US boxing, having won world titles in three weight classes including lightweight where he currently holds the WBC belt.
Stevenson has yet to be beaten in his professional career and opponents have rarely been able to lay a glove on him.
But as a 17-year-old bright young prospect, Stevenson was pitted against current pound-for-pound star Crawford.
‘Bud’ is nine years senior and it was seen as training experience that would be vital to help bridge the gap between his amateur career and professional level.
Stevenson suggested he was the one that encouraged rounds of sparring to take place, but didn’t expect the beating he received in the gym.
He said: “When I was, I want to say seventeen. I go pull up on him. So I was like, ‘yo, you going to give me some rounds?’
“And this was one of the one times that I had to actually learn that I am not the best!
“So I get in the ring and this dude got to beating me up, like we only sparred two or three rounds, it was four minute rounds.
“Man this dude beat me up so bad! I swear to God that was the worst a** whooping I ever had as a fighter!”
Full footage never emerged of the pair going at it that year, but it was clearly a huge learning curve for the future champion.
Stevenson then made his mark at amateur level winning a silver medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
He turned professional in February 2017, putting together a 12-fight win streak before his first world title shot at featherweight in 2019.
Stevenson defeated Joet Gonzalez to become world champion at the first time of asking in an impressive feat.
He then moved up to super-featherweight and stopped Jamel Herring to claim the WBO world title in a second weight class.
Prior to his win, pictures had emerged of the pair sparring again, in rounds Crawford described as ‘crazy’.
The talented Stevenson went on to unify the division, picking up the WBC belt with a dominant win over Oscar Valdez in 2022.
Prior to his win over Valdez, he had yet again been pictured sharing new rounds of sparring with Crawford.
The experienced American was having huge success at welterweight, and it was a renewed opportunity for Stevenson to prove his worth in a training challenge further along in his career.
In April 2023, Stevenson made his lightweight debut beating Shuichiro Yoshino before clinching a third world title with a win over Edwin De Los Santos seven months later.
And in his interview last year, Stevenson hailed Crawford’s influence as a key factor in the roaring success of his time in the professional ranks.
