Shakur Stevenson has begun sparring to defend his WBC lightweight belt against Floyd Schofield, which will take place in 65 days, on February 22 in Riyadh.
Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) made his Matchroom Boxing debut against the undefeated Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs) in a fight he was favored to win. It's not the one he wanted against No. 1 ranked contender William Zepeda, but he wasn't available due to a hand injury from his last fight on Nov. 16.
De Los Santos bent down
Shakur's promoter, Eddie Hearn, received criticism from fans for not focusing on setting up a rematch with Edwin De Los Santos, who he would have been terrible against last year on November 16th. Stevenson has complained about being injured but has shown 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 would prefer to fight the 22-year-old rookie Schofield so as not to jeopardize his potential unification bout against Gervonta 'Tank' Davis.
Three-division world champion Stevenson is talking the big game, but he's not ready to take any chances now that he's one step away from getting an elusive mega-payday against Tank. Shakur has some chicken in itcertainly. After Stevenson's bad experience against De Los Santos last year, he wants no part of it.
Shakur's defense buried
Shakur vs. Schofield fight on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol on Feb. 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. What's interesting is that the Stevenson-Schofield fight is buried at number five on Turki Alalshikha's February 22 card, below these fights:
- Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2
- Daniel Dubois vs. Joseph Parker: Teammate
- Carlos Adames vs. Hamza Sheeraz
- Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Israel Madrimov
- Shakur Stevenson vs. Floyd Schofield
“Shakur was an ex-fighter in terms of how we promoted him. I thought he was an incredible talent, and I still think he'll beat any lightweight, except maybe Keyshawn Davis. Neither guy wants to fight each other,” said Bob Arum Fight Hub TVtalking about whether Shakur Stevenson can beat Gervont Davis.
Almost that many times📸🤫 pic.twitter.com/N1lyGGPwtG
— Shot by Zax📸 (@ShotByZax) December 18, 2024