Shakur Stevenson received up in arms when retired former world champion Antonio Tarver stated Floyd ‘Child Austin’ Schofield could be a “nice battle” for him to be examined to see how he does earlier than he faces Gervonta Davis.
WBC light-weight champion Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) stated Tarver shouldn’t be evaluating the 22-year-old Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs) to “the elites,” that means himself. Shakur factors out that Schofield’s muscular tissues don’t imply he’s received punching energy.
Schofield seemed highly effective with the photographs hitting the Mexican warrior Rene Tellez Giron final Saturday evening of their battle in Las Vegas. The punches that Schofield landed in that battle would have executed harm to anybody within the 135-lb division, together with Shakur.
Shakur Stevenson: “What kind of [stuff] is he smoking? He’s evaluating the little child [Schofield] to the elites. Can’t evaluate mediocre expertise to elite stage expertise, and simply since you received muscular tissues don’t imply you’ve received energy,” stated Shakur on X, reacting to Antonio Tarver saying that he ought to battle Floyd Schofield to see how he does in opposition to him earlier than going through Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.
Antonio Tarver to Breezy Esco: “If Shakur can deal with the miniature tank [Floyd Schofield], he ought to be prepared for the complete Tank [Gervonta Davis], and with this child’s fashion, it’ll give us look into Davis-Stevenson.”
The truth is that the 27-year-old Shakur hasn’t confirmed that he’s an elite fighter throughout his seven-year skilled profession. He’s seemed common since shifting as much as 135 in 2023. Shakur is NOT an elite-level fighter, and he’s not even an A-level fighter primarily based on his light-weight efficiency.
His greatest win at light-weight was in opposition to Edwin De Los Santos final yr on November sixteenth, and that was extremely questionable as a result of he was shifting nonstop, attempting to get away from the knockout artist. That was a really poor efficiency from Shakur, who was booed loudly by the followers on the ringside that evening on the T-Cellular Area in Las Vegas.
In Shakur’s final battle in opposition to Artem Harutyunyan on July sixth, his promoters at High Rank matched him in opposition to a weak puncher coming off a loss and an extended layoff. He nonetheless fought poorly, exhibiting no willingness to have interaction.
The group started booing and leaving the Prudential Heart enviornment by the sixth spherical, sad with what they had been watching from Shakur, the hometown fighter from Newark, New Jersey. That lackluster efficiency from Shakur solidified that he’s NOT something near an elite-level fighter. The battle confirmed that Shakur lacked the fashion to entertain followers on account of his absence of energy and retreating strategy to his fights. He gained’t interact, even in opposition to a weak puncher like Harutyunyan.
Schofield Sr., the dad of ‘Child Austin,’ posted his rebuttal to Shakur’s remark, saying, “You’re NOT elite. You’re a second-place Olympian [Note: Shakur lost to Cuba’s Robeisy Ramirez in the finals of the 2016 Olympics] who fought all cab drivers. Which battle was your battle to “elite?”
Shakur Doesn’t Belong In This Period
Floyd Sr. is 100% right about Shakur not being an elite fighter as a result of he’s not confirmed it, and he’s a chief instance of a deluded particular person residing in an imaginary world, seeing issues in himself that don’t exist. Shakur doesn’t belong on this period of the game. He’s a throwback to the bygone Mayweather period earlier than the Web, cable tv, and different fight sports activities.
On this period, a fighter should have an entertaining fashion to draw curiosity and never smash issues for his or her promoters with their community offers. Shakur’s fashion would have been tolerated within the historic previous, however now. It’s essential to entertain and he’s incapable of doing that. Schofield has a greater fashion for entertaining followers and turning into a star on this period.
William Zepeda will possible end Shakur after they battle on February twenty second in Riyadh. Zepeda is a rising star within the light-weight division with a combating fashion that’s fan-friendly and one that would make him an enormous PPV attraction with a knockout win over Shakur.
