Shakur Stevenson faces a new opponent, Josh Padley, after Floyd Schofield was pulled from the February 22 fight due to health issues. The contest, with the WBC lightweight title on the line, takes place at The Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Three-division world champion, undefeated Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) from Newark, NJ makes the second defense of his title. The Houston, TX-based 27-year-old retained his belt by unanimous decision against Artem Harutyunyan last July, after claiming the vacant strap against Edwin De Los Santos in November 2023, also by UD.
Unbeaten Padley (15-0, 4 KOs) had two successful outings in 2024. In his previous bout last September, the 29-year-old defeated Mark Chamberlain by unanimous decision. Last March, the native of Doncaster, Yorkshire stopped Conner Lee Doherty in the fourth round.
“I feel good, I put in a great training camp, I put in a lot of work and I’m focused and I’m ready, Shakur Stevenson said during Open Workout. “I don’t think nothing changes. Why do anything change? Honestly I knew this was clown activities with this kid. I knew everything that was going to come through with this guy. And truthfully I’m ready for this next guy now.”
“You don’t even think about that,” Stevenson said when asked about the pressure and the process. “You don’t think about nothing, but just doing your job and staying focused. Me at my best versus anybody – I’m better than everybody. So I don’t even look at what he’s going to bring. I’m going fill him out and see what he got. But I know me and my best is better.”
The Stevenson vs Padley fight airs live on DAZN as part of the Beterbiev vs Bivol 2 undercard.
The main event is a championship rematch for the undisputed light heavyweight title between current champion Artur Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) and former WBA titleholder Dmitry Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) from Kyrgyzstan. Also on the card, British two-time world champion Daniel Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) defends his IBF heavyweight title against former champion Joseph Parker (35-3, 23 KOs) from New Zealand.