Shakur Stevenson (22-0, 10 KO’s) has found another opponent to defend his WBC lightweight (135 lbs) title against in British contender Josh Padley (15-0, 4 KO’s). The two will be fighting on the undercard of Riyadh Season’s February 22 card which is set to be headlined by undisputed light-heavyweight (175 lbs) champion Artur Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KO’s) and former WBA champion Dmitry Bivol (23-1, 12 KO’s).
The news was revealed by The Ring owner, General Entertainment Authority (GEA) chairman and Riyadh Season head Turki Alalshikh:
“Shakur Stevenson is set to face Josh Padley in a fight that’s going to shake the ring,” Alalshikh posted yesterday on social media. “Don’t miss The Last Crescendo.“
Padley, 29, is currently ranked at #12 on the WBC’s lightweight rankings, qualifying him to fight for Stevenson’s WBC title which will be defended by the American on February 22. Though Padley does not boast a stellar resume, he had recently impressed with a win over fellow Brit Mark Chamberlain (16-1, 12 KO’s) during Riyadh Season’s September 21st Wembley card headlined by Anthony Joshua (28-4, 25 KO’s) and Daniel Dubois (22-2, 21 KO’s).
While the February 22 card is set to commence as normal, with no other dropouts noted, there still hangs a cloud of suspicion surrounding the withdrawal of Floyd Schofield (18-0, 12 KO’s) who reportedly fell ill. This has been maintained by his promotion, Golden Boy Promotions, whose owner, Oscar De La Hoya, put out a heartfelt message in support of his fighter:
“Yesterday, Floyd “Kid Austin” Schofield Jr. fell ill and was transported to the hospital as a precautionary measure,” De La Hoya explained on his social media account.
“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 HE [His Excellency] Turki Alalshikh, SELA, and the medical professionals who provided Schofield with care.“
Schofield’s illness has not been substantiated upon by any of the involved parties; including Turki Alalshikh, the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) and Golden Boy Promotions. Given Schofield was hospitalized, his exact condition would already have been revealed but it appears that everyone is tight-lipped into what exact sort of illness he suffered from.
Drawing more eyebrows in this case are the accusations that Floyd Schofield’s father and trainer flung towards Shakur Stevenson and SNAC which implicated both in having a hand in Schofield’s illness which was initially portrayed as a poisoning. Just two days prior, both Schofield and his father also alleged that drugs had been planted inside their car by someone from Stevenson’s team. However, this would all eventually be retracted by Schofield Sr. in now-hidden posts on Schofield’s Twitter/X account.
Schofield’s hospitalization and exact illness appears to be highly-sensitive information, with BBBofC head Robert Smith also refusing to clarify on what exactly occurred during a recent interview:
“All I can tell you is that he went to a hospital and he’s been deemed not to box,” Smith told British sports media outlet talkSport.
“Of course, it concerns me. It concerns me a lot about what the parents say when they don’t know the full facts. At the moment we don’t know other than the fact that the kid is unfit to box. But of course, it concerns me what people say. People can throw things out there all the time and then we have to look into, which we will.“
According to Smith, he had decided to withdraw Schofield from his bout Stevenson after concerns arrived regarding Schofield’s health:
“I received a telephone call early this morning from his team saying that they were concerned about his health. He was taken to hospital for a number of checks, it was decided that he wasn’t in a position to box on medical grounds and therefore he has been withdrawn by the boxing board of control so he is not boxing on Saturday.
“I can’t talk to you about medical issues, you know that. All I know is that he has been taken to hospital. He has gone through a number of our tests and the doctors are not happy for him to box and therefore he is not boxing.
“It is done for the safety of the boxer, I cannot speak about the medical grounds.“
While there are medical procedures that would not allow a patient’s exact condition to be revealed, the secrecy and lack of transparency surrounding Schofield’s illness is unprecedented. In most cases when a fighter is pulled out due to injury or some sort of illness, the extent of what they suffered is revealed.
The refusal by all the informed parties to substantiate on what ailed Floyd Schofield is only fueling theories on social media that the illness and even the hospitalization is not genuine; theories made more feasible due to the behavior from Floyd Schofield himself who has been heavily antagonizing and insulting Shakur Stevenson despite having no notable achievements in his career; unlike Stevenson who is a two-division world champion and has unified on at least one occassion.
