Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya shut down the idea of his fighter Floyd Schofield being used as the challenger for WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson on February 22 in Riyadh.
De La Hoya posted his Clap Back Thursday today, trashing Shakur’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, for stooping to the lowest level by choosing his 22-year-old prospect Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs) rather than one of the other contenders in the lightweight rankings.
This move by De La Hoya was expected after the news that had leaked last night that he hadn’t signed off on Schofield facing Shakur on the massive Riyadh Season card on February 22nd. The fight was ridiculed by fans, who saw Schofield having no chance against the 2016 Olympic silver medalist Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs).
It would have been a bad career move for Schofield to take the fight with Shakur unless the money was out of this world. The 22-year-old New Jersey native Schofield is ranked #2 WBA and is in a position to challenge Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis for his title in what would likely be a better-paying fight than facing Shakur in a clash that would be buried beneath two to three fights on the February 22nd card.
“You would naturally think Shakur would start targeting a Frank Martin or Muratalla, some other world champion, right? No, Shakur and ‘Lonesome Eddie [Hearn] made an offer to my 22-year-old prospect Kid Austin, who has no world championship experience,” said De La Hoya on his Clap Back Thursdays this week.
“This is exactly what I mean when I say Eddie doesn’t know how to build a career. Bob Arum built Shakur Stevenson to become a world champion, and in your first fight with Matchroom, you actually want to put him in with a prospect, Eddie? I didn’t think it could get any lower for you, but it does.”
Shakur is not happy about learning that De La Hoya has chosen not to let ‘Kid Austin Schofield fight him. He had hoped to fight Schofield in what many saw as a mismatch.
As good as Shakur is, he’s not shown any sense of urgency to get back in with Edwin De Los Santos after the tough time he had against him last year because he may have doubts about his ability to win the rematch.
