Movieclip focus not working on if statement

programming flash
1

Hello,

I have created menu which has roll over and out animations.
What I am trying to achieve is to play the roll over animation when rolling over the menu, but stop the roll out animation IF the focus has been set on a specific movieclip.

Here’s my code:

function menuOut(e:MouseEvent):void
    {
        stage.focus == contentMc;
            [COLOR=Red]if(stage.focus == contentMc)[/COLOR]{
                menuMc.stop();
                contentMc.stop();
                
            }
            else{
                menuMc.gotoAndPlay("out");
                contentMc.gotoAndPlay("out");
            }
    }

I am not sure what I am doing wrong, but if I trace the stage focus inside the if statement nothing happens, but it works if I trace it on else statement(gives null) which means that the if statement is bypassed and the else is played.

Any suggestions?