Leaked footage of Shakur Stevenson training in camp for his fight against Floyd Schofield in 46 days has shown that he is still not using his surgically repaired right arm in training for his WBC lightweight title defense on February 22. He favors his right hand, does not want to use it, and focuses on his left.
Unfortunately, that strategy won’t work for Stevenson against Schofield. He will be on the attack from the first round, and if Schofield runs like he did against Edwin De Los Santos, he will be chasing him like a hungry cat.
The training tape reveals a weakness
Southpaw Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) still only uses his left hand, which was the case in his narrow win over Edwin De Los Santos in 2023. In the video, Stevenson barely uses his right hand, which shows he doesn’t believe in it. He’s too gentle.
If Shakur’s right hand falls apart on him against Schofield, there’s no way he’ll be able to last and fight this type of fighter. He won’t be able to hold off Floyd with just one hand working for him.
For this fight against the young 22-year-old Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs), it’s vital that Shakur, 27, has more than just a left hand working for him. This guy can hit, and he will attack relentlessly. That’s how Floyd fights; he and his dad know Shakur is fragile.
“I think if Floyd Schofield can fight high, he should use a lot of pressure and that punch [he’ll beat Shakur]. The punch is the key to Shakur’s style,” said Oscar De La Hoya Fight Hub TV.
Shakur’s added set
Stevenson now looks like a middleweight, having put on weight since his last fight against Artem Harutyunyan six months ago on July 6. He’s going to have to handle that weight because he looks like a fat 160 pounds. Stevenson doesn’t look healthy or anything like a professional athlete.
I don’t know what he ate to get so big, but he needs to stop robbing the cookie jar. He looks like an old drummer in a 1960s rock band.
That weight will have to be reduced. Shakur is going to step away from the kitchen table and control his eating if he doesn’t want to get stuck, having to wear himself to the bone on fight week. He doesn’t have the physique of a fighter anyway, but he made it worse by exploding six months out of the ring.
In contrast, Schofield looks chiseled and already in fighting shape. It’s youth, obviously, but also hard work. He doesn’t sit around eating and looking at his belts or posting 24/7 on Twitter.
