Shakur Stevenson has begun sparring for the title defense of his WBC lightweight belt against Floyd Schofield, which will take place in 65 days on February 22 in Riyadh.
Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) makes his Matchroom Boxing debut against the undefeated Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs) in a fight he prefers to win. It’s not the one he wanted against #1 contender William Zepeda, but he was unavailable due to a hand injury from his last fight on November 16th.
De Los Santos stripped
Shakur’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, received criticism from fans for not focusing on setting up a rematch with Edwin De Los Santos, who he was supposed to face last year on November 16th. Stevenson complained that he was injured, but he showed no desire to fight De Los Santos now that he is healthy.
That lack of interest is a clear sign that he knows the threat De Los Santos poses to him and will instead fight 22-year-old upstart Schofield so as not to jeopardize his potential unification clash against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis. .
Three-division world champion Stevenson talks a big game, but he’s not willing to take the risks now that he’s on the verge of getting the elusive mega-payday against Tank. Shakur did some chicken in himfor 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 fights on the undercard of the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol card on February 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. What’s interesting is that the Stevenson-Schofield fight on February 22nd was buried at number five on Turki Alalshikh’s card, among these fights:
- Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2
- Daniel Dubois vs. Joseph Parker: Co-feature
- Carlos Adames vs. Hamzah Sheeraz
- Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Israel Madrimov
- Shakur Stevenson vs. Floyd Schofield
“Shakur was a former fighter in the sense we used to promote him. I thought he was a tremendous talent, and I still think he would beat any lightweight with the possible exception of Keyshawn Davis. Neither guy wants to fight each other,” Bob Arum said Fight Hub TVtalk about whether Shakur Stevenson can beat Gervonta Davis.
Almost that time📸🤫 pic.twitter.com/N1lyGGPwtG
— Shot By Zax📸 (@ShotByZax) December 18, 2024
