The Austin kid will “overpower” 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 down 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 the one-armed Shakur and “overwhelm” him with punches. Shakur’s fragile hands are the key to this fight. If they last, he wins. A breakdown in this area leaves him easy prey for the tiger shark, ‘Kid Austin’.

Peck & Run problem

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

Stevenson could not peck and run his way to victory like he did against De Los Santos as Floyd would hunt him down and punish him with powerful punches. He doesn’t hit as hard as De Los Santos, but he hits close enough to do damage. Shakur should have lost that fight if Edwin cut the ring better and showed more courage to throw when he caught him.

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

“I feel like with a healthy arm, Shakur only has it because ‘Kid Austin’ came forward.” “He’s going to bring you a fight, but it’s going to be a sloppy fight,” Kevin Johnson said Fighthippepicking a healthy WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson over Floyd ‘Kid’ Austin’ Schofield on February 22 if Shakur’s surgically repaired right arm doesn’t disintegrate.

“He (Schofield) doesn’t know what to stand on.” He is an Orthodox and a southerner at the same time. Not only that. Throws wide punches. It’s a style that was made for Shakur Stevenson. It’s like, ‘I’m going to tag you with all these wild kicks and misses you’re doing now.’

“You open up your body with your switch.” I have a feeling Shakur will win. Now, his arm injury. If his arm gives up on him and he has one arm, it’s going to be tough. “Even though his defense is good, you only have one arm,” Johnson said of Stevenson.

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

Austin’s aggression

It’s a good thing for him that the fight is in Riyadh and not the US, because he would have been booed from anywhere. Shakur is not physically or mentally built for lightweight. He is timid and fragile in both areas. Fighting a younger, fearless fighter with power will be difficult for Stevenson.

“You might lose that arm to set up body shots and hook shots or whatever the case may be. Austin the kid is going to go forward to hit. So he’s going to overwhelm you with all these shots as you try to get out of there and try to land him one good shot. You cannot use the other hand. So you’re limited,” Johnson said.