Floyd Schofield denies he ducked the fight against WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson last Saturday night in Riyadh. Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs) said that it doesn’t make sense for him to turn down the “biggest paycheck” and opportunity of his life at the last minute.
Fans would have to say cap about what Schofield, 22, is saying if not for other fighters on that card pulling out with an illness or staying on the card and fighting ill. There are too many fighters that were feeling under the weather to single out Schofield and say he’s just making up a reason to pull out.
No Reason to Duck
The money that Schofield would have gotten for the fight against Shakur would have been huge. Moreover, if he won or looked good in losing, he’d have a lot of opportunities for other interesting fights. Pulling out of the battle hurts Schofield much more than if he had stayed on the card and given a good shot in a losing effort.
He points out that Josh Padley showed there’s nothing to duck with WBC lightweight champion Shakur. Although Padley was knocked out with a series of body shots in the ninth round, he was unbothered by the headshots, and his face was unmarked at the end. It’s almost like he never had a fight.
“Realistically, who spends time away from their family, their son, the biggest opportunity in their life, and their biggest paycheck & just decides to duck out of the fight? I know y’all watched the fight [Stevenson vs. Joshua Padley]; y’all saw it was nothing to duck,” Schofield said to thaboxningvoice.
Shakur said he’s not going to give Schofield another opportunity because he feels he says he didn’t like the trash-talking he did, and he would be worried that he might do the same thing with him.
