Shakur begins camp to defend title in Schofield

Shakur Stevenson has begun sparring to defend his WBC lightweight belt against Floyd Schofield, which will take place in 65 days on February 22nd in Riyadh.

Stephenson (22-0, 10 KOs) makes his Matchroom Boxing debut against the undefeated Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs) in a fight he is favored to win. It’s not the one he wanted against top contender William Zepeda, but he was unavailable due to a hand injury in his last fight on November 16.

De Los Santos Ducked

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 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 landing the elusive mega-payday against Tank. Shakur has someone chicken in itfor sure. 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 as part of the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol card on Feb. 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. What’s interesting is that the Stevenson-Schofield fight is buried at number five on Turki Alalshih’s February 22 card, below these fights:

• Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitri Bivolya 2
• Daniel Dubois vs. Joseph Parker: Co-feature
• Carlos Adames vs. Hamzah Sheeraz
• Virgil Ortiz Jr. vs. Israel Madrimov
• Shakur Stevenson vs. Floyd Schofield

“Shakur was an ex-fighter in the sense that we were using him for promotion.” I thought he was a huge talent, and I still think he will beat any lightweight with the possible exception of Keyshawn Davis. “Neither guy wants to go up against each other,” Bob Arum said Fight Hub TVtalking about whether Shakur Stevenson could beat Gervonta Davis.

Almost then📸🤫 pic.twitter.com/N1liGGPvtG

— Shot Bi Zak📸 (@ShotBiZak) December 18, 2024