Floyd Schofield Sr. said in an interview tonight that the fight between his son Kid Austin and WBC Lightweight Champion Shakur Stevenson will be announced on Monday, December 2nd in Saudi Arabia for the February 22nd card in Riyadh.
Officially on Monday
Schofield Sr. states that the Shakur-Kidd Austin fight will be announced by the time American fans wake up Monday morning tomorrow. He says it’s a “done deal,” and Golden Boy and the network have agreed on that.
Fans on social media are still in disbelief that the fight will happen, but we’ll see tomorrow if Floyd Sr. is serious about it being a done deal.
Oscar De La Hoya said he thinks Schofield needs more experience before taking on the three-time world champion Shakur, who is older and has been fighting longer in the professional ranks. He fought better opposition and is a silver medalist at the Olympics.
Schofield Sr. is in a rush to fight Shakur, and he will find out the hard way that he may not be happy with the outcome of this match. He didn’t say the purse for Kid Austin, but it’s probably a few million. For Schofield Sr. to be this eager, it has to be by far the biggest payout of Floyd Jr.’s career.
Seeking The Knockout
“They make a statement in their country (Saudi Arabia), it should be broadcast.” It’s a done deal. It’s all good,” Floyd Schofield Sr. said Punch Drunk Boxing about his fight with official Shakur Stevenson on February 22 in Riyadh.
“I commend him for keeping his word.” It’s going to be a great fight,” Floyd Sr. said of Shakur keeping his word to fight Kid Austin. “De Los Santos was flat-footed.” The ‘kid’ is not flat-footed. Our goal is to knock him out.
“I don’t think they will give us that on the cards.” So our goal is to strategically knock him out. We’re excited because no matter what people say, ‘The kid’s not ready.’ The kid has a chance to hit, and everybody knows the Kid can go.”
For Schofield Sr. to fight Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) in a big hurry is a strong signal that it’s all about the money because he hasn’t fought a single contender in his four-year pro career.
Kid Austin was supposed to fight top 15 contenders to help him prepare for a world title shot, but they fell out. Schofield will still have the strength, youth and speed advantage over Shakur. If he can get through Stevenson’s accurate shots and score something big, he has a chance. It will be hard to catch Shakur without getting caught.
“That’s all he needs.” Shakur must deliver a flawless performance for 12 rounds. All we have to do is connect once or twice with that beard, and we’re done. So we’re happy about this,” Schofield Sr. said.
Kid Austin doesn’t have one punch power. He hits hard, but gets most of his knockouts from accumulating punches during fights that stretch into the second half. The thing is, Schofield hasn’t fought any top opponents and yet he hasn’t been able to score quick knockouts.
“We saw his (Shakur’s) last fight. How much growth have we seen? His hand was injured. I don’t see him getting any more knockouts. So his knockout percentage didn’t go up. Has he gotten more skilled?” Schofield Sr. said of Shakur.
Stevenson was clearly not designed to fight at lightweight. He hit his ceiling when he was fighting at featherweight (126), and he doesn’t have the power to hurt fighters at 135. But that won’t matter because Kid Austin isn’t a big knockout and the only way he can win is by decision. He won’t be able to land often enough to knock out Shakur.
