Matchroom Boxing chairman Eddie Hearn says he isn’t yet sure whether Floyd Schofield is the opponent to take on Shakur Stevenson – but won't rule it out.
Schofield, 22, originally from Jersey City, New Jersey, has been calling out Stevenson – a 27-year-old lightweight titleholder from Newark, New Jersey – since it was announced that Stevenson’s first choice for an opponent, William Zepeda, was injured and out of the mix.
Despite Schofield’s entreaties, Hearn – Stevenson’s promoter – isn’t convinced he’ll be the opponent for Stevenson on a proposed February 22 card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“I mean, I know that there's a back-and-forth, and the father wants it, the fighter wants it,” said Hearn during an interview with Fight Hub TV. “Obviously, we're talking to Golden Boy as well. We've made them an offer, when Shakur was supposed to be fighting Zepeda. All was good for February 22; now they're saying that Zepeda is not ready. [Stevenson] needs an opponent.
“For me, Schofield has been calling out for a while now. He's a very talented young fighter. [Stevenson] is a big step up. But at some point, you take a big step up, especially if there's a financial reward.”
Stevenson, 22-0 (10 KOs), was initially scheduled to face Joe Cordina on October 12 in Riyadh, but the fight was canceled after Cordina suffered a hand injury. Since then, Stevenson has expressed interest in facing Zepeda, his mandatory challenger, but then that fight fell through.
With Stevenson currently looking for a replacement, Schofield, 18-0 (12 KOs), wants to step into the void and challenge for a belt in what would be the biggest fight of his career thus far.
Hearn says only time will tell if the fight can happen.
“So, I don't know if that fight will get made, but we have been talking to Golden Boy about numbers around that fight – and there is a chance,” he said. “But we won't know for the next probably 24, 48 hours.”
Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at bernardneequaye@gmail.com.