NEWARK, New Jersey – Shakur Stevenson defiantly downplayed Shuichiro Yoshino’s chances of pulling off what would be a big upset Saturday night.

“He’s not doing that,” Stevenson stated during a press conference Thursday at Prudential Center. “It’s not happening. I worked too hard for that. It’s not happening.”

Most sportsbooks have installed Stevenson as a 16-1 favorite over the Japanese lightweight contender entering a 12-round main event ESPN will televise from Prudential Center in Stevenson’s hometown of Newark (10 p.m. ET). Tokyo’s Yoshino is undefeated (16-0), possesses power (12 KOs) and has fought at or near the lightweight limit for almost all of his seven-year pro career.

Stevenson, meanwhile, will make his debut as a full-fledged lightweight in their WBC elimination match. That prompted Mark Shunock, the moderator of promoter Top Rank’s press conferences, to ask Stevenson (19-0, 9 KOs) if the former WBO featherweight and WBC/WBO junior lightweight champion is ready for this type of fight.

“Is he ready for Saturday night is the real question,” Stevenson said. “I mean, he walk around here with a smile and I can’t wait to wipe that smile off his face.”

The 25-year-old Stevenson declined to talk about boxing the winners of the upcoming pay-per-view showdowns between Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney and Vasiliy Lomachenko.

Davis (28-0, 26 KOs) and Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs) will square off in a 12-round, 136-pound bout April 22 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Four weeks later, Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) will defend his IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO lightweight titles against Vasiliy Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs) on May 20 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

“I gotta go in there and handle business Saturday,” Stevenson said. “I’m not really worried about anything but Saturday. I don’t know about no May 20th, no May 21st. Saturday is what’s important to me. Like I said, this dude been running around here saying I ain’t got no power. He been saying he gonna push me mentally. Let’s see if he ready to go to deep waters with me. Imma drown him.”

Yoshino, the WBC’s fourth-ranked lightweight contender, will face a left-handed opponent for just the second time in 17 professional fights. The 31-year-old Yoshino hasn’t encountered a southpaw since he stopped Thailand’s Chatri Charoensin (then 7-11) in the third round of his pro debut in December 2015.

“You’re gonna see everything in the arsenal,” said Stevenson, who’s ranked third by the WBC. “I think Imma go out there and box him, beat him up when he wanna bang, touching his body. I’m beatin’ him up. He’s gonna leave that ring knowing that I’m the best fighter he ever been in the ring with. The last time this dude fought a southpaw was his pro debut. He’s 16-0. He fought all orthodox fighters.

“It’s a whole different world when you get in there with a southpaw, especially me. You gonna fight the best southpaw? Now, how do you get in the ring with the best southpaw after not fighting no southpaws? Good luck, bro.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for krikya360.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.