Shakur Stevenson got up in arms when retired former world champion Antonio Tarver said Floyd ‘Kid Austin’ Schofield would be a “great fight” for him to be tested to see how he does before he faces Gervonta Davis.
WBC lightweight champion Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) said Tarver shouldn’t be comparing the 22-year-old Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs) to “the elites,” meaning himself. Shakur points out that Schofield’s muscles don’t mean he’s got punching power.
Schofield looked powerful with the shots hitting the Mexican warrior Rene Tellez Giron last Saturday night in their fight in Las Vegas. The punches that Schofield landed in that fight would have done damage to anyone in the 135-lb division, including Shakur.
Shakur Stevenson: “What type of [stuff] is he smoking? He’s comparing the little kid [Schofield] to the elites. Can’t compare mediocre skills to elite level skills, and just because you got muscles don’t mean you’ve got power,” said Shakur on X, reacting to Antonio Tarver saying that he should fight Floyd Schofield to see how he does against him before facing Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.
Antonio Tarver to Breezy Esco: “If Shakur can handle the miniature tank [Floyd Schofield], he should be ready for the full Tank [Gervonta Davis], and with this kid’s style, it’ll give us a good look into Davis-Stevenson.”
The reality is that the 27-year-old Shakur hasn’t proven that he’s an elite fighter during his seven-year professional career. He’s looked average since moving up to 135 in 2023. Shakur is NOT an elite-level fighter, and he’s not even an A-level fighter based on his lightweight performance.
His best win at lightweight was against Edwin De Los Santos last year on November 16th, and that was highly questionable because he was moving nonstop, trying to get away from the knockout artist. That was a very poor performance from Shakur, who was booed loudly by the fans at the ringside that night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
In Shakur’s last fight against Artem Harutyunyan on July 6th, his promoters at Top Rank matched him against a weak puncher coming off a loss and a long layoff. He still fought poorly, showing no willingness to engage.
The crowd began booing and leaving the Prudential Center arena by the sixth round, unhappy with what they were watching from Shakur, the hometown fighter from Newark, New Jersey. That lackluster performance from Shakur solidified that he’s NOT anything close to an elite-level fighter. The fight showed that Shakur lacked the style to entertain fans due to his absence of power and retreating approach to his fights. He won’t engage, even against a weak puncher like Harutyunyan.
Schofield Sr., the dad of ‘Kid Austin,’ posted his rebuttal to Shakur’s comment, saying, “You’re NOT elite. You’re a second-place Olympian [Note: Shakur lost to Cuba’s Robeisy Ramirez in the finals of the 2016 Olympics] who fought all cab drivers. Which fight was your fight to “elite?”
Shakur Doesn’t Belong In This Era
Floyd Sr. is 100% correct about Shakur not being an elite fighter because he’s not proven it, and he’s a prime example of a deluded person living in an imaginary world, seeing things in himself that don’t exist. Shakur doesn’t belong in this era of the sport. He’s a throwback to the bygone Mayweather era before the Internet, cable television, and other combat sports.
In this era, a fighter must have an entertaining style to attract interest and not ruin things for their promoters with their network deals. Shakur’s style would have been tolerated in the ancient past, but now. You must entertain and he’s incapable of doing that. Schofield has a better style for entertaining fans and becoming a star in this era.
William Zepeda will likely finish Shakur when they fight on February 22nd in Riyadh. Zepeda is a rising star in the lightweight division with a fighting style that is fan-friendly and one that could make him a huge PPV attraction with a knockout win over Shakur.
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