Floyd Schofield’s illness has resulted in Josh Padley landing the opportunity of a lifetime.
Just days out from fight night, the unbeaten Schofield was forced out of his Saturday title bout against WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson due to illness. As a result, Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) will instead defend his 135-pound championship against Britain’s Padley (15-0, 4 KOs) on the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 undercard.
Uncrowned confirmed the news Wednesday following an initial report by the Turki Alalshikh-owned Ring magazine. Riyadh Season, the promotional entity operated by Alalshikh and Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, is the primary promoter for the Feb. 22 Beterbiev vs. Bivol 2 mega-card.
Padley was a massive underdog when he shocked undefeated prospect Mark Chamberlain this past September on the Anthony Joshua vs. Daniel Dubois undercard at Wembley Stadium. The Brit now once again heads into a fight as a major outsider as he looks to pull off what would be a monumental stunner against Stevenson.
Stevenson was most recently in action this past July when he won a dominant decision over Artem Harutyunyan in his hometown of Newark, New Jersey. Following the fight, Stevenson signed with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing on a two-fight deal and was announced to face Joe Cordina on the first Beterbiev vs. Bivol undercard. Stevenson, however, was forced out of that fight with an injury.
Now this time Stevenson is fit and ready to fight, but his opponent Schofield was not.
Hearn previously told Uncrowned that he has a three-fight plan for Stevenson that will see them target bouts with William Zepeda and Gervonta “Tank” Davis should Stevenson be victorious Saturday.
