Shakur Stevenson vs Floyd Schofield Preview Feb. 22nd, 2025
Unbeaten WBC Lightweight Champion and former WBO and WBC Jr. Lightweight Champion Shakur Stevenson defends the title in Saudi Arabia against undefeated fellow New Jersey native Floyd Schofield this Saturday, Feb. 22nd. The 12-round battle can be seen on pay-per-view in most nations. Stevenson last fought in July when he beat Artem Harutyunyan by unanimous decision. Stevenson beat Edwin De Los Santos by unanimous decision in a truly awful fight in November, 2023 to win the vacant belt. Schofield’s last outing resulted in a 12-round unanimous decision over Rene Tellez Giron in November even though he was dropped in the 11th round.
Stevenson vs Schofield Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Floyd Schofield +700
- Shakur Stevenson -1250
My Pick
The 27-year-old Stevenson of Newark is a southpaw enters the ring with a perfect mark of 22-0 with 10 Ko’s. He enjoyed an excellent amateur career as he won a USA Junior National Championship and World Junior Championship in 2013. The next year he captured the USA Youth National, Youth Olympic Games and World Youth Championships. He won the USA Youth National Title in 2015 as well as the Olympic trials and qualifiers. He then fought at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and won the silver medal as a bantamweight.
Since turning pro in 2017 he’s boxed 157 rounds and has also captured the IBF Inter-Continental, WBC Continental Americas, and WBO NABO Featherweight Titles as well as the WBO Featherweight Crown. Stevenson stands 5-feet-8-inches tall and owns a 68-inch reach. Stevenson beat Robson Conceicao via a unanimous decision in September, 2022 but was stripped of his WBO and WBC Junior Lightweight Belts for missing weight. He had won the WBO Title in October, 2021 by stopping Jamel Herring in the 10th round and added the WBC version when he beat Oscar Valdez by unanimous decision in April, 2022.
He’s certainly not not known as a KO artist by any means though as he possesses average power with a current knockout ratio of 45.5 per cent and has gone the distance in six of his last eight fights. He displays fine boxing skills and speed and has plenty of long-term championship potential in multiple weight classes. Along with beating Shuichiro Yoshino, Robson Conceicao, Oscar Valdez and Jamel Herring he also has wins over Joet Gonzalez, Alberto Guevara, Jeremia Nakathila, Christopher Diaz, Jesse Cris Rosales and Juan Tapia.
The 22-year-old Schofield hails from Jersey City and fights out of Austin, Texas. He makes the ring walk with a perfect mark of 18-0 with 12 Ko’s and has 77 rounds of experience under his belt since making his pro debut in 2020. As a successful amateur he reached the semifinals of the 2019 USA Youth National Championships and the quarterfinals in 2018. He also made it to the quarterfinals of the 2018 Junior Golden Gloves and the semifinals of the Junior Olympics the same year.
Schofield measures 5-feet-7-inches tall with an unlisted reach which means he gives up an inch in height to Stevenson. As far as power is concerned, his current knockout ratio clocks in at 66.7 per cent but just two of his past six victories have been by stoppage. He won the vacant Texas Combative Sports Program Texas Super Featherwight Title and vacant NABF Junior Super Featherweight Belt in 2021 and added the vacant American Boxing Federation Inter-Continental Lightweight Crown the next year.
Schofield will definitely be taking a step up in class when he steps into the ring with Stevenson this weekend. His biggest wins so far have been against Juan Antonio Lopez, Rodrigo Guerrero, Daniel Rosas, Alberto Mercado, Jesus Valentin Leon, Haskell Rhodes, Ricardo Lopez Torres, Esteuri and Rene Lellez Giron in his last outing.
Prediction…
Stevenson’s game plan is generally to try and not get hit while using his master boxing skills and footwork to outbox his opponents and that usually results in a boring fight for the fans. However he did show a bit more aggression against Valdez, Herring and Yoshino but the contest against Edwin De Los Santos was one of the worst in the history of the sport. Stevenson’s very good defensively but unless you’re a purist you may find the majority of his fights to be almost unwatchable since he’s rarely pushed to the limit. Hopefully the youthful Schofield will show some aggression and force Stevenson to throw some leather in return. There’s not much point trying to outbox Stevenson so he should be letting his hands go at every opportunity. That’s easier said than done though and unless he has the power to stop Stevenson, it’s doubtful he’s going to win this fight even though he possesses fine skills of his own. I’m expecting Stevenson to defend the belt without much excitement or drama.
Play Stevenson -1250@ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Floyd Schofield betting • Shakur Stevenson betting