Former amateur star Reimer Walker gives Floyd “Kid Austin” Schofield no chance of beating WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson on February 22 in their bout in Riyadh.
Walker sparred with Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) and found it impossible to drop anything on him, which made him want to improve his defense. He says the only punches he took were on the rare occasions Shakur allowed him to.
No chance
Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs) and his father, Floyd Sr., fought their way to the title against Shakur. Kid Austin didn't get his shot the normal way by defeating anyone notable during his four-year pro career.
Although the World Boxing Council does not rank him in the top 15, the World Boxing Federation has him ranked second. He earned this rating by defeating middle-of-the-road opposition rather than contenders.
Scofield's promoter, 1992 Olympic gold medalist Oscar De La Hoya, did not want him to take this fight, as he felt he did not have enough experience to fight Stevenson. De La Hoya described Kid Austin as a “rookie”, and wanted him to develop further before fighting for the world title.
Some believe that Schofield is rushing into this fight for the money, wanting to get a good payday before he is exposed by one of the contenders. It wasn't a good sign that second-tier fighter Rene Tellez Giron dropped him in his last fight on November 2nd.
I can't wait for camp to start, I miss sparring
-Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) December 13, 2024
“He doesn't stand a chance. He wouldn't stand a chance,” Reimer Walker said. Fighthype About Floyd Schofield's inability to beat WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson on February 22 in Riyadh.
“He speaks well, but there is a difference between talking and being with him (Stevenson).” I actually competed with Shakur. “He's not going to be able to beat Shakur,” Walker said of “Kid Austin” Schofield. “Honestly, I don't think anyone can beat Shakur.
“Yes, it's hard (to throw a jab at Shakur). You have to take what he gives you. Whatever he gives you, that's what you're going to get. If he doesn't give it to you, you're not going to get it. He's the hardest-defending fighter I've ever been involved with.”
that it Not fair to the fans That Shakur is defending against Scofield rather than facing one of these talented contenders:
- Andy Cruz
- Edwin De Los Santos: *Shakur's rematch to show that his poor performance from November 2023 was actually due to a hand injury and not because he was intimidated by De Los Santos' punching power.
- Raymond Muratala
- Keshawn Davis
- Abdullah Maysoon
“I learned from that. It made me work on my defense a lot,” Walker said of his sparring with Shakur. “Once I saw that I couldn’t hit him as hard as I hit other people, I had to make my defense that way. I don't know what it is. It's different. He works on hitting and doesn't get hit very often. So, I've been working on that a lot as well. I can see myself like that.
“Not early in my career, but later as I get older,” Walker said when asked if he could see himself developing into a defensive fighter like Shakur, who doesn't get hit.
Walker did not say whether Stevenson was on his bike the entire time, running around the ring during the sparring sessions. We've seen that from Shakur in his fights with de los Santos, Artem Harutyunyan, and Jeremiah Nakathalia. The only fight in the last three years where Shakur looked good was against Shoichiro Yoshino, and that fighter didn't look world class.
