Kid Austin to “overwhelm” Shakur Stevenson if his hand injury returns

Sparring partner Kevin Johnson says Shakur Stevenson will be in trouble if his surgically repaired right hand breaks in his fight against Floyd ‘Kid Austin’ Schofield on February 22 in Riyadh.

Johnson predicts a win for Stevenson if he is healthy, but could lose if he re-injures his right hand during the fight against the 22-year-old Schofield. He says Floyd would attack Shakur with one arm and “overwhelm” him with punches. Shakur’s breaking hands are the key to this fight. If they hold, he wins. A breakdown in this area leaves him easy prey for the tiger shark, “Kid Austin”.

The Peck & Run problem

Unlike Edwin De Los Santos, ‘Kid Austin’ would be relentless against an injured Shakur. He will be like this anyway, but it will be much worse.

Stevenson could not peck and run his way to a win like he did against De Los Santos because Floyd would chase him down and punish him with power punches. He doesn’t hit as hard as De Los Santos, but he hits close enough to hurt. Shakur should have lost this fight if Edwin had cut the ring better and shown more courage to throw when he caught it.

WBC lightweight champion Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) has not fought since injuring his hand in training for an October 12 fight against Joe Cordina. He had hand surgery and began training last week for his defense against Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs).

“I feel like with a healthy hand, Shakur has it just because ‘Kid Austin’ shows up. He’s going to get you a fight, but it’s going to be a sloppy fight,” Kevin Johnson said Fighthypechoosing a WBC lightweight champion, Shakur Stevenson, over Floyd ‘Kid’ Austin’ Schofield on February 22 if Shakur’s surgically repaired right hand doesn’t fall apart.

“He (Schofield) doesn’t know what to put on. He’s orthodox and he’s all of a sudden southpaw. Not only that. He throws wide punches. That’s a style made for Shakur Stevenson. He’s like, ‘I’m going to tag your *** with all that wild hitting and lost footwork you’re doing now.”

“You’re opening up your body with your changeup. I feel like Shakur’s going to win this without a doubt. Now, his hand injury. If his hand gives up on him and he’s got one hand, it’s going to be tough. Even though the his defense is good, you only have one hand,” Johnson said of Stevenson.

If Shakur is healthy, he’ll win a boring 12-round decision using his hit and run stylebut it won’t be easy. Kid Austin will hit him hard and attack non-stop. It will make Stevenson look bad regardless.

Austin’s aggression

It’s good for him that the fight is in Riyadh instead of the United States because he would be booed out of anywhere. Shakur is not built physically or mentally for the lightweight division. He is shy and fragile in both areas. Facing a younger, fearless fighter with power will be difficult for Stevenson.

“Maybe lose that hand to set up body shots and hooks or whatever. Kid Austin is going to come in for a punch. So he’s going to overwhelm you with all those punches while you’re trying to get out there and try to hit- you can’t use your other hand, so you’re limited,” Johnson said.