Shakur Stevenson is no longer in action on October 12 against Joe Cordina. Three-division world champion was forced to withdraw from his scheduled fight against former champion due to hand injury that required surgery.
Newark’s Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) was set to make the second defense of his WBC lightweight title against Welsh Cordina (17-1, 9 KOs) in the co-feature to Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol. The event takes place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Stevenson got injured during his training camp in Colorado Springs. On Wednesday, the 27-year-old southpaw underwent surgery at Surgical Center of the Rockies “to repair tears to his sagittal band and collateral ligament,” as per Julie Goldsticker’s release.
Stevenson is expected to make a full recovery and resume training in six to eight weeks. Once recovered, his next fight could be in play at some point in Q1 2025 against Mexico’s unbeaten southpaw William Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs).
“I am definitely disappointed that I won’t be able to fight on October 12,” Shakur Stevenson said. “I have been super sharp and feeling great in camp and was planning to put on a show next month against Joe Cordina. But I have to listen to the doctor and have these injuries fixed immediately so that I can come back stronger than ever at the start of 2025.”
At this stage, it is unclear whether 32-year-old former IBF super featherweight champion Joe Cordina (17-1, 9 KOs) remains on the Beterbiev vs Bivol undercard against a replacement opponent.