Walker: Schofield can’t compete with Stevenson

Former amateur star Raimer Walker gives Floyd “Kid Austin” Schofield no chance of beating WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson on February 22 in their fight in Riyadh.

Walker fought Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) and found it impossible to land anything on him, which made him want to improve his defense. He says the only punches he threw were on the rare occasions Shakur let him.

No chance

Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs) and his father, Floyd Sr., fought their way into the title race against Shakur. “Kid Austin” didn’t earn his shot the normal way by beating anyone of note during his four-year pro career.

Although the WBC does not rank him in the top 15, the World Boxing Association has him ranked 2nd. He earned that ranking by beating middle-of-the-road opponents rather than contenders.

Schofield’s promoter, 1992 Olympic gold medalist Oscar De La Hoya, did not want him to accept this bout, believing he did not have enough experience to fight Stevenson. De La Hoya labeled Kid Austin a “novice” and wanted him to develop more before challenging for a world title.

Some believe that Schofield is rushing into this fight for the money, wanting to get the big payday before being 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 Nov. 2.

I can’t wait to start camp, I miss the sparring lol

— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) December 13, 2024

“He doesn’t stand a chance. He won’t stand a chance,” Raimer Walker told Fighthype about Floyd Schofield having no chance of defeating WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson on Feb. 22 in Riyadh.

“He talks well, but there’s a difference between talking and being there with him [Stevenson]. I actually fought Shakur. He won’t be able to hit Shakur,” Walker said of ‘Kid Austin’ Schofield. “Honestly, I don’t think anyone can hit Shakur.

“Yes, it’s difficult [to land a jab on Shakur]. You have to take what he gives you. Whatever he gives you, that’s what you’ll get. If he doesn’t give it to you, you won’t land it. He’s the most defensive fighter I’ve ever dealt with.

His It’s not fair to the fans that Shakur is fending off Schofield rather than facing one of these talented contenders:

1. Andy Cruz
2. Edwin De Los Santos: *Rematch for Shakur to prove that his poor November 2023 performance was actually due to a hand injury and not because he was terrified of De Los Santos’ punching power.
3. Raimondo Muratalla
4. Keyshawn Davis
5. Abdullah Freemason

“I learned from this. It made me work a lot harder on my defense,” Walker said of his sparring with Shakur. “Once I saw that I couldn’t hit him as much as I hit other people, I had to defend myself that way. I don’t know what it is. He is different. He works on his shots and doesn’t get hit much. So, I worked a lot on that too. I could see myself like that.

“Not early in my career, but later as I get older,” Walker said when asked if he could see himself becoming a defensive fighter like Shakur, who doesn’t get hit.

Walker did not say whether Stevenson was on his bike the entire time, racing to the ring during their sparring sessions. We saw this from Shakur in his fights with De Los Santos, Artem Harutyunyan and Jeremiah Nakathalia. The only fight in the last three years where Shakur had looked good was against Shuichiro Yoshino, and that fighter didn’t look world-class.