Shakur Stevenson vs. Floyd Schofield is off. Just days out from their title bout, the unbeaten Schofield has been forced out of his fight with WBC lightweight champion Stevenson due to illness.
Stevenson vs. Schofield was scheduled for Saturday on the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 undercard.
Uncrowned confirmed the news Tuesday following an initial report by the Turki Alalshikh-owned Ring magazine. Riyadh Season, the promotional entity operated by Alalshikh and Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, is the primary promoter for the Feb. 22 Beterbiev vs. Bivol 2 mega-card.
A late-replacement opponent for Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) is currently being sought. Britain’s Josh Padley (15-0, 4 KOs) and Morocco’s Moussa Gholam (20-1, 12 KOs) are the leading options under consideration.
Padley was a massive underdog when he shocked undefeated prospect Mark Chamberlain this past September on the Anthony Joshua vs. Daniel Dubois undercard at Wembley Stadium.
Gholam has been on the sidelines since a March 2023 decision win over Abraham Montoya, which served as a bounce-back performance after a 2022 split decision loss to Elnur Samedov.
Stevenson was most recently in action this past July when he won a dominant decision over Artem Harutyunyan in his hometown of Newark, New Jersey. Following the fight, Stevenson signed with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing on a two-fight deal and was announced to face Joe Cordina on the first Beterbiev vs. Bivol undercard. Stevenson, however, was forced out of that fight with an injury.
Now this time Stevenson is fit and ready to fight, but his opponent is not.
Hearn previously told Uncrowned that he has a three-fight plan for Stevenson that will see them target bouts with William Zepeda and Gervonta “Tank” Davis should Stevenson be victorious Saturday.
Uncrowned will continue to update this story as it develops.
