Can Shakur’s hands resist Schofield?

WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson is training for his title defense against unknown Floyd Schofield on February 22 in Riyadh. Fans are curious to see if Shakur, 27, will be able to make it through training camp without suffering a setback from his right hand injury.

Hand cured?

Shakur injured his right hand in training for his title defense against Joe Cordina on the October 12 card. The fight was canceled and this will be Shakur’s first time back since surgery.

If Stevenson’s surgically repaired right hand breaks during the fight with Schofield, he will be forced to move around the ring like he did against Edwin De Los Santos in their November 16, 2023 fight.

Assuming Stevenson makes it through training camp without his hands falling off, he has a tough fight against the 22-year-old Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs). This guy can punch, he’s aggressive, and he sees this fight as a way to put himself in position to fight Gervonta Davis.

Shakur needs to look good in this fight because he is performing on Turki Al-Shiekh’s loaded Riyadh card. His fight with Schofield is buried beneath four other fights on the card, indicating that he has lost status after two lackluster performances against Artem Harutyunyan and Edwin De Los Santos.

Schofield has no experience against world-class opponents during his short career, and some fans believe the only reason he will get the title shot against Shakur is because his father talked his way into the match on social media.

The World Boxing Association gave Schofield a high ranking for beating foolish opponents, but he doesn’t rate in the top 15 in real terms. Floyd fought to defeat officer René Téllez Girón on November 2 in his last fight.

Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) needs to impress against Shofield to win back the fans he lost after his last two fights against De Los Santos and Harutyunyan. Schofield is just as big a puncher as De Los Santos, but he’s still dangerous and young. He will do everything he can, looking to knock out Stevenson to position himself for a fight against Gervonta Davis.

8 weeks away 📸 @ShakurStevenson pic.twitter.com/kVFaJGMV9J

— Shot by Zax📸 (@ShotByZax) January 2, 2025