WBC Champion in the Lightweight category Shakur Stevenson has been predictably gone with a safe choice with his replacement opponent, selecting a British fighter at a domestic level Josh Padley (15-0, 4 ko), not dangerous Cuban Fena Jadier Herrera for defense of the title this Saturday, February 2nd, in Riyadh.
Turks Alalashikh revealed the news this morning that #10 WBC Padley, 29, would be a replacement opponent for Shakur (22-0, 10 Kos), which will fight this Saturday in a duel with 12 rounds on the underground map of Arrttur Beterbieva VS. The event will be displayed He lives on a given.
Alalshikh did not say whether the Stevenson vs. Padley moved down in the Prelims card, which would better fit with smaller fights on Saturday’s card. The fight is 100% inconsistency, because Padley has no power and his speed is slow. I do not evaluate Padley as a world class.
Shakur’s strategy
I never thought about the promoter Shakura, Eddie Hearn, would choose Herrer as his replacement opponent because he would ruin the goal of hitting the golden wealth nut with the struggle of Gervont Davis. In order to reach that agreement on the fight that Shakur has with Matchro, he has to win in his first match and look extraordinary. Therefore, the weak opponent, Padley, replaced the inexperienced Novak Floyd Schofield.
Not surprisingly, Southpaw Jadier Herrera was not chosen for Shakur because he has one strength and is a far better fighter than Schofield. Herrer’s power is at the level of Gervont Davis, and he would be wrong for Shakura because he would eventually land something big.
Promotor Matchroom Hearn would then get stuck to eating the last fight of Shakura on his contract. It would be a waste of time to sign him again to a new contract and put him on a set of renovation work as he did with Anthony Joshu. Shakur will not be repaired by renovation
Padley is for exhibition purposes, which is why Stevenson looks better than it is. He fits into some of the recent Shakur smaller opponents, Artem Harutyunyan and Shuichiro Yoshino. Stevenson-Padley will not be competitive because Padley is a weaker opponent than any of the fighters who fought in the last seven fights.
Surprisingly, it got the green light as a replacement because it is not a fight that is worthy to be placed on Saturday’s card. I would love to be a fly on the wall when Hearn suggested that Josh Padley be used as Shakur’s replacement for Turks, not talented Jadier Herrera.
Shakur Stevenson is ready to face Josh Padley in a fight that will shake the ring 🥊 don’t miss the last crescendo 🔥 pic.twitter.com/aeaopaa08q
– Turki Alalshikh (@Turki_alalshikh) 19. February 2025
Last time updated 19.02.2025
