‘Nobody’s Doing What I’m Doing,’ says O’Shaquie Foster

Talking to The Ring, Foster claimed that the potential win will make him a quintessential part of every boxing conversation.

“I think this win is gonna stamp me as one of the best in the sport, and one of the greatest of this era. I think this win is going to put me on the pound-for-pound list. There’s no way they’re going to be able to talk about boxing without speaking about me. So that’s where I want to be, and we are fighting hard to get there,” he said.

Foster sees the Navarrete fight as the moment when years of being overlooked can no longer be ignored. The WBC champion has already built a formidable résumé at 130 pounds, with victories over former world champions Rey Vargas, Eduardo “Rocky” Hernández, Stephen Fulton, and Raymond Ford, and by avenging his controversial defeat to Robson Conceição. But Foster believes those wins have not translated into the recognition he deserves, particularly on the pound-for-pound stage.

There is a deeper element to it. He has spent much of his career as the fighter people overlooked, repeatedly taking on highly regarded opponents rather than padding his record. His recent run has transformed him from an excellent champion into a legitimate elite fighter, but Navarrete is the kind of marquee name that can elevate his standing beyond the 130-pound division.

“Nobody’s doing what I’m doing. These guys are picking their battles wisely. I’m going from style to style. It doesn’t even matter, and I’m taking the biggest challenges. So it’s only right to be on the pound-for-pound list after this,” he said.

“I’ll Go Up”

And his dreams aren’t small, post his potential win. In Foster ’s words, he has his arc planned out, one that includes Vasiliy Lomachenko.

“I’m trying to go undisputed, and then I’ll go up. I can see the path to undisputed. I feel like I could sit around for one or two more,” he said. “I can see a Lomachenko fight in the future. I think that’s a great style matchup. That’s a fight that I’ve always wanted, even when I was coming up. I thought that would be a great technical fight.”