Shakur Stevenson's new promotional deal with Matchroom got off to a rough start. The 27-year-old American boxer had to pull out of his WBC Lightweight World Title defense against Joe Cordina due to an injury.
Stevenson tore a tendon in his hand during sparring, forcing him to withdraw from the October 12 fight in Saudi Arabia. The bout was set to be part of the Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol Riyadh Season event.
Some critics questioned the matchmaking against Cordina, a two-time super-featherweight champion coming off a loss. Stevenson brushed off these concerns in an interview with Cigar Talk:
"I really ain't care. I wasn't really listening to the name, I was really hearing money. When I heard the money, I was like s**t you can name anybody, sign me up. Truthfully, I ain't really pay no mind to it."
Initially, Stevenson considered fighting through the injury. He said:
"Honestly, I was gonna fight through the s**t. Shoutout to my family and people around me that care about me cause I was like 'f**k it I'm gonna fight through that s**t, go cook this n***a, if I gotta beat him with one hand I'll beat him with one hand.'"
However, his family convinced him to see a doctor, who made the final call to withdraw from the fight.
Stevenson has now set his sights on a new opponent. He plans to face William Zepeda, the number one contender, in February 2025. The defensively-elite boxer stated:
"I think it's a lingering injury but like I said it's God's plan. Now is just time to heal up, time to change things around for my hands. We should be back in February though. February should be the time we back and we should putting on a clinic versus Zepeda."
Stevenson's hit list includes Joe Cordina, William Zepeda, and Gervonta Davis. Fans worry that his injury recovery might delay a potential mega fight with Davis. For now, all eyes will be on Stevenson's return to the ring next February.
