Former amateur star Raimer Walker is giving Floyd “Kid Austin” Schofield no chance of beating WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson in their fight in Riyadh on February 22.
Walker fought Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) and found himself unable to land anything against him, which led him to improve his own defense. He says the only punches he landed were on the rare occasions Shakur allowed him to.
No chance
Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs) and his father, Floyd Sr., fought their way to a title shot against Shakur. “Kid Austin” didn’t earn the opportunity in the usual way, by beating anyone of note during his four-year pro career.
Although the WBC doesn’t rank him in the top 15, he is ranked No. 2 by the World Boxing Association. He earned this ranking by beating mediocre opponents rather than competitors.
Schofield’s promoter, 1992 Olympic champion Oscar De La Hoya, did not want him to take this fight because he felt he was not experienced enough to fight Stevenson. De La Hoya called Kid Austin a “newbie” and wanted him to develop further before challenging for a world title.
Some believe that Schofield is in this fight for the money and wants to get the big payoff before he is exposed by one of the contenders. It wasn’t a good sign when second division fighter Rene Tellez Giron dropped him in his last fight on November 2nd.
I can’t wait to start camp. I miss sparring lol
– Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) December 13, 2024
“He has no chance. “He won’t have a chance,” Raimer Walker said Fight hype about how Floyd Schofield had no chance of defeating WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson in Riyadh on February 22nd.
“He talks well, but there’s a difference between talking and being with him (Stevenson). I actually competed against Shakur. He’s not going to be able to beat Shakur,” Walker said of “Kid Austin” Schofield. “Honestly, I don’t think anyone can beat Shakur.
“Yes, it’s hard (to give a push to Shakur). You have to take what he gives you. Whatever he gives you, that’s what you will get. If he doesn’t give it to you, you won’t land it. He’s the most defensive fighter I’ve ever been around.”
It is not fair to the fans that Shakur is defending against Schofield instead of facing one of these talented competitors:
- Andy Cruz
- Edwin De Los Santos: *Rematch for Shakur to show that his poor performance in November 2023 was really due to a hand injury and not because he was afraid of De Los Santos’ punching power.
- Raymond Muratalla
- Keyshawn Davis
- Abdullah Mason
“I learned from it. It allowed me to work on my defense a lot more,” Walker said of his fight with Shakur. “When I saw that I couldn’t beat him as much as other people, I had to get my defense that way. I don’t know what it is. He is different. He works for hits and doesn’t get hit often. 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 developing into a defensive fighter like Shakur who doesn’t get hit.
Walker did not say whether Stevenson was on his bike the entire time and ran around the ring during their sparring sessions. We saw this with Shakur in his fights with De Los Santos, Artem Harutyunyan and Jeremiah Nakathalia. The only fight in the last three years where Shakur looked good was against Shuichiro Yoshino, and that fighter didn’t look world class.
