Shakur Stevenson will reportedly return early next year
Matchroom Boxing announced this afternoon that WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson, slated to meet former super featherweight champion Joe Cordina on the October 12th Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol undercard, “has undergone immediate surgery” for a hand injury and will instead return in “early 2025.”
The newly signed Stevenson (22-0, 10 KO) meant to kick off his multi-fight contract against Cordina (17-1, 9 KO) before facing mandatory challenger William Zepeda early next year and, potentially, returning to free agency to explore a unification bout with Gervonta “Tank” Davis. With Zepeda gearing up to fight Tevin Farmer in November, going straight into the mandatory upon Stevenson’s return seems like the obvious play, but there’s no telling whether Stevenson’s contract situation will affect the decision.
As for Cordina, Eddie Hearn tells David Greisman that he’s working to set up a “big fight,” though he doesn’t specify whether that means he’s staying on the card. We’ve seen some solid replacements step up on short notice this year, so it’s not impossible.
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