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Shakur Stevenson Still Hasn’t Received Explanation For Floyd Schofield's Disappearance In Riyadh
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Keith Idec
Keith Idec
RingMagazine.com
Shakur Stevenson Still Hasn’t Received Explanation For Floyd Schofield's Disappearance In Riyadh
NEW YORK — Shakur Stevenson still doesn’t believe there was anything wrong with Floyd Schofield Jr. three months ago, other than that he had second thoughts about their lightweight title fight.

Stevenson hasn’t received what he considers a reasonable explanation as to how Schofield wound up in a hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, four days before they were scheduled to fight on the Dmitry Bivol-Artur Beterbiev undercard.

Neither Schofield nor promoter Oscar De La Hoya has provided documentation regarding his diagnosis, nor has the British Boxing Board of Control, which removed him from their 12-round, 135-pound championship match because he was hospitalized.

That doesn’t surprise Stevenson because he never believed Schofield would step into the ring with him, even when presented with a chance to win the WBC lightweight title.

“I know him,” Stevenson told The Ring recently. “He ain’t want the fight. I think it was more the public and the fans pressured them into doing something they didn’t want to do. When they got there, they saw that it was really about to happen ... and I think that made them pull back.”

Stevenson, who will turn 28 next month, instead won easily, stopping England’s Josh Padley in the ninth round at ANB Arena. The left-handed Stevenson sent a gutsy Padley to the canvas three times in the ninth, all with body blows, before his trainer threw in the towel.

Padley (16-1, 5 KOs), an electrician by trade, was working on a job site when he agreed to replace Schofield on four days’ notice.


Stevenson applauded Padley’s willingness to take such a difficult fight on practically no notice. Padley also weighed in at 134 pounds, one below the lightweight limit, something Stevenson knew Schofield wouldn’t do once they saw each other in Riyadh more than a week before they were scheduled to fight.

“They tried to make it right and say something went wrong with him,” Stevenson said. “I knew when I seen him that kid was nowhere near 135 pounds. I went [out] there and seen him, and my first, initial reaction was, ‘I don’t think that dude is making weight. Ain’t no way he’s making weight.’ And then the day before the British [Boxing Board of Control] weigh-in, all of that stuff happened. I wasn’t really surprised about it.”

Stevenson (23-0, 11 KOs), The Ring’s No. 3 lightweight contender, is scheduled to defend his WBC belt against mandatory challenger William Zepeda (33-0, 27 KOs) on July 12 at Louis Armstrong Stadium, a tennis venue in Queens.




The bout between Stevenson, a three-weight world champion from Newark, New Jersey, and Zepeda, a powerful southpaw from San Mateo Atenco, Mexico, will be one of the featured fights on The Ring’s third pay-per-view show across a 2½-month stretch.

If Stevenson, an 11-1 favorite according to DraftKings, defeats Zepeda, he wouldn’t consider rescheduling his fight with Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs) unless he proved deserving of a second chance. Schofield, 22, of Austin, Texas, still doesn’t have his next fight scheduled.

“He gotta do something very big for that to happen,” Stevenson said. “But as of right now, why would I give an opportunity to somebody when I already gave him an opportunity of a lifetime, and he slapped me in my face?”

Keith Idec is a senior writer and columnist for The Ring. He can be reached on X @idecboxing

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