Shakur Stevenson vs. Josh Padley Boxing Fight Set After Floyd Schofield's Illness
WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson officially has a new opponent just three days before his scheduled title defense on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Per Ring Magazine, Stevenson will now defend his title against Josh Padley after Floyd Schofield was forced to withdraw from the bout due to an illness.
Per ESPN's James Regan, Padley is flying to Riyadh on Wednesday after getting the call to be the late replacement. He's coming off a unanimous decision victory over Mark Chamberlain in September that improved his record to 15-0 with four knockouts.
Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) last fought in July when he retained his WBC lightweight title by defeating Artem Harutyunyan by unanimous decision. While the 27-year-old has long been one of the most popular fighters in boxing, he's faced criticism recently for his performances that lacked excitement. He hasn't finished a fight since April 2023 when he defeated Shuichiro Yoshino by sixth-round TKO.
"It’s kind of hard to prove [you’re that guy] when you don’t have a fighter who’s trying to fight back," Stevenson complained after his win against Harutyunyan. "I’ve got to cut off the ring a little bit more."
Facing a fighter who entered the bout on three days' notice should give Stevenson the opportunity to put on a show and win back some fans.
Stevenson's matchup against Padley will be one of four title fights on the DAZN pay-per-view card. In the main event, Artur Beterbiev will put his undisputed light heavyweight championship on the line in a rematch against Dmitry Bivol. IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois will defend his title against Joseph Parker in the co-main event, which will be preceded by Stevenson vs. Padley. The first title fight of the night will see WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames take on Hamzah Sheeraz.
