Shakur begins camp for Schofield’s title defense

Shakur Stevenson has begun fighting 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 likes to win. It’s not what he wanted against No. 1 contender William Zepeda, but he was unavailable due to a hand injury from his last fight on November 16.

Dels Santos Ducked

Shakur’s promoter Eddie Hearn has come under fire from fans for not focusing on setting up a rematch with Edwin De Los Santos, who he had a terrible fight with last year on November 16. Stevenson had complained about being injured but has shown 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 prefer to fight the 22-year-old rookie Schofield so as not to jeopardize his potential unification clash against Gervonta’ Tank’ Davis. . Three-division world champion Stevenson is talking about a big match, but he’s not willing to take any chances now that he’s on the verge of getting that elusive payday against Tank.

Shakur’s defense buried

Shakur vs. Schofield fights the undercard Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 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 Feb. 22 card, below these fights:

• Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2
• Daniel Dubois v. 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 that we promoted him. I thought he was a tremendous talent, and I still think he’s going to beat any lightweight with the possible exception of Keyshawn Davis. Neither of them want to fight each other,” he said. say Bob Arum Fight Hub TVtalking about whether Shakur Stevenson could beat Gervonta Davis.

Almost that time 📸🤫 pic.twitter.com/N1lyGGPwtG

— Shot By Zax📸 (@ShotByZax) December 18, 2024