Shakur Stevenson says he’s not looking past his next opponent, Floyd Schofield, for February 22nd towards the two big fights that Turki Alalashikh and promoter Eddie Hearn have planned for him in 2025 against William Zepeda and Gervonta Davis.
Tunnel Vision
Given what’s at stake in 2025, Shakur doesn’t overlook the 22-year-old Schofield because he knows that if he loses this fight, it will wreck his chances for the Zepeda and Tank bouts next year. Regardless of how great he looks against Floyd Jr., it’s still questionable whether Stevenson will get a chance to fight Gervonta.
Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) will defend his WBC lightweight title against challenger Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs) on Turki’s loaded February 22nd card in Riyadh. Interestingly, Shakur’s fight against Schofield is the fifth fight on the undercard, down from four other contests.
Schofield is going to be coming for an upset, looking to knock out the finesse fighter, Shakur, and take his spot as the WBC champion. You can’t rule out an upset win for Schofield because he’s got the power, speed, and youth to pull it off. Stevenson struggled in his fights against sluggers Edwin De Los Santos and Jeremiah Nakathilia.
He also didn’t look good in his last contest against Artem Harutyunyan on July 6th, getting booed by his own fans at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Many of them began leaving at the halfway point of the fight, perhaps due to how dull it was.
“I’ve been wiser to know to focus on the moment. It’s good for them to have the plans and say it to the public, but I’m more so focused on this kid [Floyd Schofield Jr] first just because I know if I don’t get past him first, I can go to the next,” said Shakur Stevenson to Bet On Yourself channel, reacting to being told that Eddie Hearn and Turki Alalashikh have mapped out a three-fight plan for him in 2025 against Floyd Schofield, William Zepeda and Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.
“I think you’re going to see a better version of the best version you’ve seen of me,” said Stevenson about how he’s going to look against Schofield. “I’m not 100%, but I’m at 90%, 95%, and as I keep working it, it’ll get to 100,” said Shakur about his recent surgically repaired right hand.
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