Shakur Stevenson says he would only offer Floyd “Kid Austin” Schofield an opportunity to fight him if he can pass a test against Abdullah Mason.
New Jersey’s Schofield, 22, has been chasing a fight with WBC 135-pound champ Stevenson – looking to replace William Zepeda – for a February 22 card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Zepeda, who holds the WBC interim lightweight belt, suffered a hand injury which ruled out a possible clash with Stevenson early next year.
With Zepeda out of the bout, 27-year-old Stevenson of Newark, is yet to announce a new opponent – a development which has seen Schofield calling out Stevenson.
But Stevenson, 22-0 (10 KOs), believes Schofield is chasing clout by calling him out.
“I think that they’re kinda using my name to promote themselves,” Stevenson told Punsh Drunk Boxing. “As of now, if they keep calling my name, a lot of people are tuned into it and honestly, I feel like I’m not gonna allow him to use my name.”
Stevenson explained that Schofield, 18-0 (12 KOs), has achieved nothing in the ring to earn him a shot at his WBC strap. The Newark-born fighter, however, threw down a challenge to Schofield and said that by beating prospect Mason, 16-0 (14 KOs), it would earn a fight with him for the title.
“I told him before, like, I’ll fight him if he beats Zepeda. When I heard him right after that, it seemed like he kinda got scared. They kinda got a little nervous when I said that.
“I’m gonna throw my other little bro [Mason] in there. So, my other little bro is over here and I’ve got more power in that situation that I can help make that fight happen. So, if he beat my little bro, he could fight me. But I guarantee you he can’t beat my little bro. He ain’t gonna pass the test against Abdullah Mason.
“That’s the fight right there because you gotta realize Kid Austin hasn’t done nothing in the sport of boxing. He had never been in a real fight, so I don’t gain anything from going to fight Kid Austin. Like, it doesn’t help me in any type of way.”
To confuse matters, Stevenson is with Matchroom, Mason is with Top Rank, and Schofield is with Golden Boy Promotions.
Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at [email protected].
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