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Floyd Schofield today responded to reports that his promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, has not signed a February 22 fight between himself and WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson.
Contract update
Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs) announced that De La Hoya is “waiting for Shakur’s team send the final agreement.” He insists his team “knows we’re going to stop Shakur”.
De La Hoya has been tight-lipped about his fighter, the 22-year-old Schofield, taking on Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) on the season’s huge card in Riyadh next February. If Oscar really has doubts about inexperienced rookie Schofield going up against three-division world champion Shakur, that’s understandable.
Schofield looked 100% rookie in his last fight against Rene Tellez Giron November 2. He went down and took a lot of hard, punishing blows from a fighter dominated by Michel Rivera. De La Hoya would look out of sorts if he allowed Schofield to take that fight. The backlash would be severe for Oscar, and for his fighter, Schofield’s career, would be ruined.
Schofield’s stock would skyrocket from a one-sided loss to Stevenson, and it’s possible he may never rise again. He would be one of many fighters who lost to Shakur and would never be mentioned again by fans except to criticize him.
A better option for Schofield
With Kid Austin ranked #2 in the WBA rankings, he can challenge champion Gervonta Davis for his belt, which would likely be a bigger payday. That would be a better fight for Schofield than facing the defensive artist Shakur, and being outboxed in what could be a boring fight.
Assuming the Shakur-Schofield fight doesn’t happen happen, Shakur should give Edwin Delos Santos rematch so he can show fans that his poor performance against him in 2023 was indeed a consequence hand injury.
As things stand now, fans don’t believe Shakur was injured in the fight with De Los Santos. They sensed the power from him and he took off running for the rest of the fight, which was booed wildly by fans in the ring at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Nevada crowds don’t like to watch runners. That style might work in Newark, New Jersey, but not elsewhere. You’re having fun, and Shakur’s dated, archaic hit-and-miss style was poison to the fans at T-Mobile.
Shakur mentioned this week that he wants to sign De Los Santos so he can upgrade him. Fans see this as a sneaky way for Shakur to have an excuse to fold. If Stephenson signs De Los Santos, he will have a permanent excuse to tell fans why he is not fighting him.
— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) November 28, 2024
