‘I believe this was all a stunt’: Shakur reacts to Schofield’s withdrawal

Shakur Stevenson always had doubts Floyd Schofield would show up for their fight and was proven correct.

After the recent news that Floyd Schofield is out of this weekend’s fight against Shakur Stevenson, Stevenson reacts to the news while talking to Fight Hub TV. Stevenson, who has said all along that he had doubts about Schofield actually showing up for the fight, doesn’t take the news too personally because this is exactly what he expected would happen. Here’s some of what Stevenson had to say below.

Stevenson on how he found out Schofield was withdrawing from fight

“Honestly, I had saw that he didn’t show up to the grand arrival. He didn’t show up there and I didn’t really understand why but I had came back and I started like cutting a few pounds and I had ended up running into his dad at the elevator and when I seen him I kind of pressed him out. And when I pressed him out he was like ‘yeah, he’s sick’ and this, that and the third.

“And then he started telling me ‘yeah but I told them if you want a backup opponent, find Shakur a backup opponent just in case we’re not going to fight’ and that kind of let me know ‘okay, he must not be fighting or something.’ That’s when I found out for real, for real.”

On his reaction to Schofield being pulled from the fight

“I can’t be emotional and stuff about because of the fact that I already thought in my brain that this is what it was going to be. Like, I watched this kid demeanor, I seen him around fight week.

“Truthfully, when I was that age I was a lot sharper, like mentally, and I was a way better fighter so I was looking at him like there’s no way that anybody in their right mind would allow him to fight me on fight night in 8oz gloves, and it just seemed like he was an unready kid. He wasn’t ready.”

On predicting that Schofield wouldn’t go through with the fight

“I just put myself in his shows and it just didn’t make no sense for them to even come out here and accept this fight and make this fight happen, I didn’t believe it.”

On the video of Schofield in the hospital

“When you cutting weight you be dehydrated and all that kind of stuff and I feel as though he was probably a little dehydrated and, you know, he’ll be okay.”

On Schofield’s father suggesting that he was poisoned

“Here’s the thing with that. When he first put out the poisoning thing he said Shakur’s massage therapist rubbed cream on us. I don’t have a massage therapist down here so how did my massage therapist rub any cream on you? It’s hard for me to believe somebody who’s just constantly coming up with something new every single day.

“No other opponent that I ever fought have ever complained about anything with me. I always been a clean boxer, I always do things the right way. So to hear all of these things is like clown stuff so I try not to get involved in the circus.

“I believe this was all a stunt. That’s what I believe. Even when I seen him he didn’t look nowhere near his weight...he looked fully hydrated the entire fight week, way bigger than me. I’m like okay, this don’t really make that much sense. That’s why when they say ‘Shakur is too small,’ yeah, I was close to my weight, buddy.”