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.
Official on Monday
Schofield Sr. states that the Shakur-Kid Austin match will be announced by the time American fans wake up tomorrow Monday morning. He says it’s a “done deal” and Golden Boy and the network have agreed to it.
Fans on social media are still in disbelief that the fight will happen, but we’ll see tomorrow if Floyd Sr. he is serious about it being over.
Oscar De La Hoya said he felt Schofield needed more experience before facing three-division world champion Shakur, who is older and has fought more in the professional ranks. He has played better in the opposing team and is a silver Olympiacos.
Schofield Sr. rushes to fight Shakur and will find out the hard way that he may not be happy with the outcome of this fight. He didn’t say the purse for Kid Austin, but it’s probably a few million. To be Schofield Sr. so willing, it has to be by far the biggest payday of Floyd Jr.’s career.
Looking for the knockout
“They are making an announcement in their country (Saudi Arabia), it should be broadcast. It’s a done deal. Everything is fine,” Floyd Schofield Sr. said Punch Drunk Boxing for his fight with the official Shakur Stevenson for February 22 in Riyadh.
“I commend him for keeping his word. It’s going to be a great race,” Floyd Sr. said. about Shakur keeping his word to fight Kid Austin. “De los Santos was flat-footed. The “child” is not flat-footed. Our goal is to knock him out.
“I don’t think they will give it to us on paper. So our goal is to knock him out strategically. We’re excited because no matter what people say, “The kid’s not ready.” The Kid has the puncher’s chance and everybody knows the Kid can crack.”
For Schofield Sr. rushing to make the fight with Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs), is a strong signal that it’s all about money because he hasn’t fought any contenders during his four-year pro career.
He should have had Kid Austin wrestle top 15 contenders to help prepare him to fight for a world title, but they’ve cut corners. Schofield will still have the strength, youth and speed advantage over Shakur. If he can get through Stevenson’s accurate shots to get something big, he has a chance. It will be hard to get to Shakur without getting caught.
“That’s all it takes. Shakur needs to give a flawless performance for 12 rounds. All we need to do is attach once or twice to that chin and it’s done. So, we’re happy about that,” Schofield Sr. said.
Kid Austin has no one punch power. He hits hard, but most of his knockouts come from piling up strikes during bouts that stretch into the second half. The thing is, Schofield hasn’t fought in any top-tier fights and yet he hasn’t been able to score a quick knockout.
“We saw his (Shakur) last fight. How much growth have we seen? His hand was hurt. I don’t see him getting any more knockouts. So his knockout rate didn’t increase. Has he become more skilled?’ Schofield Sr. said. for Shakur.
Stevenson is obviously not designed to fight at lightweight. He hit his ceiling when he fought at featherweight (126) and 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’s not going to be able to land KO Shakur often enough.
