Shakur Stevenson has started training for the title defense of his WBC lightweight belt against Floyd Schofield, which takes place in 65 days on February 22 in Riyadh.
Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) makes his Matchroom Boxing debut against undefeated Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs) in a fight he is favored to win. Not the one he wanted against No. 1 contender William Zepeda, but he was unavailable due to a hand injury in his last fight on November 16.
From Los Santos dodged
Shakur's promoter Eddie Hearn received criticism from fans for not focusing on arranging a rematch with Edwin De Los Santos, who he was terrible against last year, on November 16. Stevenson had complained about being injured, but he showed no desire to fight De Los Santos now that he is healthy.
This lack of interest is a clear sign that he knows the threat De Los Santos poses to him and would rather fight 22-year-old novice Schofield so as not to jeopardize his potential unification clash against Gervonta 'Tank' Davis. .
Three-division world champion Stevenson talks a big match, but he's not willing to take any risks now that he's on the verge of securing the elusive mega-payday against Tank. Shakur has chicken in itwithout fail. After Stevenson's bad experience against De Los Santos last year, he doesn't want to be a part of him anymore.
Shakur's defense buried
Shakur vs. Schofield fight 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 is buried in fifth place on Turki Alalshikh's card on February 22, below these fights:
- Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2
- Daniel Dubois vs. Joseph Parker: co-feature film
- Carlos Adames vs. Hamzah Sheeraz
- Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Israil Madrimov
- Shakur Stevenson vs. Floyd Schofield
“Shakur was a veteran in the sense that we were promoting him. I thought he had immense talent, and I still think he'll beat any lightweight except maybe Keyshawn Davis. Neither guy wants to fight,” Bob Arum told Fight Hub TVtalking about whether Shakur Stevenson could beat Gervonta Davis.
Almost then📸🤫 pic.twitter.com/N1lyGGPwtG
– Shot by Zax📸 (@ShotByZax) December 18, 2024
#Shakur #Starts #Camp #Schofield #Title #Defense