On Saturday, WBC 135-pound champion Shakur Stevenson will have a new opponent in Saudi Arabia. Lightweight contender Floyd Schofield withdrew from his fight with Stevenson due to illness.
Undefeated contender Josh Padley (15-0, 4 KOs) will take Schofield’s place.
Stevenson(22-0, 10 KOs), who was skeptical about Schofield actually being available for this fight, said he’ll be ready to go, no matter who he fights.
“I’m in shape, they could’ve sent anybody,” he said. “They could’ve said “(Vasyl)Lomachenko let’s fight,” I’d say let’s do it.” “I know I am better than everybody. I’ll go out there and show the world who I am, they’re going to see.”
On Wednesday morning, Golden Boy Promotions, Schofield’s promoter, released a statement on Schofield’s withdrawal from the fight.
“Yesterday, Floyd “Kid Austin” Schofield Jr. fell ill and was transported to the hospital as a precautionary measure. In the interest of Schofield’s health and safety, the British Boxing Board of Control made the decision to cancel his scheduled bout against Shakur Stevenson. Schofield has since been discharged from the hospital and is awaiting the results of his medical evaluation. We extend our gratitude to His Excellency Turki Alalshikh, SELA, and the medical professionals who provided Schofield with care.”
Team Schofield made some interesting accusations via X, where they accused someone of possibly causing Schofield’s illness, “I won’t say his name, but their team need to be banned from the sport: I can see why people duck him because the bull that comes with this team.”
Who knows what happened, but this is a blow for Stevenson, who was looking forward to fighting a named opponent. In the end, Stevenson has to keep on winning and keep on moving forward.
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