Shakur Stevenson has started sparring for the title defense of his WBC lightweight belt against Floyd Schofield, which will take place in 65 days on February 22nd in Riyadh.
Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) is making his debut with Matchroom Boxing against the unbeaten Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs) in a fight he’s favored to win. It’s not the one he wanted against #1 ranked contender William Zepeda, but he was unavailable due to a hand injury from his last fight on November 16th.
De Los Santos Ducked
Shakur’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, has received criticism from fans for not focusing on setting up a rematch with Edwin De Los Santos, who he’d terrible against last year on November 16th. Stevenson had complained of being injured, yet he’s shown no desire to fight De Los Santos now that he’s healthy.
That lack of interest is a clear sign that he knows the threat De Los Santos poses for him and would rather fight the 22-year-old novice Schofield so that he won’t put his possible unification clash against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis at risk.
The three-division world champion Stevenson talks a big game, but he’s not willing to take the risks now that he’s on the cusp of getting the elusive mega-payday against Tank. Shakur has some chicken in him, for sure. After Stevenson’s bad experience against De Los Santos last year, he wants no part of him.
Shakur’s Defense Buried
Shakur vs. Schofield are fighting on the undercard of the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol card on February 22nd in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. What’s interesting is the Stevenson-Schofield fight is buried at the fifth spot on Turki Alalshikh’s card on February 22nd, below these fights:
- Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2
- Daniel Dubois vs. Joseph Parker: Co-feature
- Carlos Adames vs. Hamzah Sheeraz
- Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Israil Madrimov
- Shakur Stevenson vs. Floyd Schofield
“Shakur was a former fighter in the sense that we used to promote him. I thought he was a tremendous talent, and I still think he’ll beat any lightweight with the possible exception of Keyshawn Davis. Neither guy wants to fight each other,” said Bob Arum to Fight Hub TV, talking about whether Shakur Stevenson could beat Gervonta Davis.
Almost that time📸🤫 pic.twitter.com/N1lyGGPwtG
— Shot By Zax📸 (@ShotByZax) December 18, 2024
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