Promoter Eddie Hearn revealed how he presented Josh Padley’s name to Turki Alalshikh as a replacement option for Shakur Stevenson to fight this Saturday, February 22nd, in Riyadh. Hearn says that when he pointed out to Turki that Padley (15-0, 4 KOs) had beaten his “favorite” Mark Chamberlain last September at Wembley Stadium, he immediately chose him as the substitute to face Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) for his WBC lightweight title.
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
Padley: Handpicked?
It’s clear from listening to Hearn that he was instrumental in choosing Padley over the other choices presented. One of them was the dangerous puncher Jadier Herrera, who had the power and talent to beat the light-hitting Shakur. Hearn’s focus is keeping Shakur unbeaten long enough to land the mega-money fight against Gervonta Davis. So, matching him against a weak fighter like Padley helps further that goal.
The former three-division world champion Shakur hasn’t fought anyone talented since he moved up to lightweight in 2023, and his other career wins have come against a mix of old washed-up fighters and no-names.
Shakur’s Record at 135
– Artem Harutyunyan: *No power, coming off a loss and 1-year layoff
– Edwin De Los Santos: Almost lost to him.
– Shuichiro Yoshino: Little-known fringe contender
Shakur is being protected with weak matchmaking to ensure he stays unbeaten long enough to get the big payday fight against Tank Davis. We saw the same thing when Hearn signed Edgar Berlanga to Matchroom.
Upon signing Berlanga, there was immediate talk of him challenging Canelo Alvarez, even though the New Yorker had fought only tomato cans before being inked. Hearn then matched Berlanga against two soft opponents, Jason Quigley and Padraig McCrory, before lining him up with the massive money Canelo fight.
In no way did Edgar rate the Canelo fight, yet he was still given it, and it was a horrible mismatch. We’re seeing the same thing with Shakur Stevenson, who fights godawful opposition to ensure he isn’t beaten. The fight against Edwin De Los Santos showed that Shakur couldn’t be trusted to be matched against anyone with power or a shred of talent because he’d likely lose or be booed out of the arena. Shakur is a 100% fake.
“As soon as I got the news about Floyd Schofield, I talked to our matchmakers and said, ‘I’m going to His Excellency’s house in an hour. I need four names, and I need you to tell me their medicals are in check. They can fly to Saudi tomorrow. They’re on weight,’ and they came back with four names,” said Eddie Hearn to Boxing News about how he found the replacement opponent for Shakur Stevenson to fight on Saturday.
“I took them to His Excellency, and I told him about Floyd Schofield. I said, ‘Look, these are the fighters.’ I said, ‘This is the guy. This is Josh Padley. He beat your favorite, Mark Chamberlain, in Riyadh Season at Wembley. He’s 15-0 and #12 with the WBC,’ and he went, ‘Yeah, that’s him.’
“We then had to negotiate the deal, which was very expensive but well deserved. Josh Padley changes his life, gets a shot at the world title, and Shakur stays in the fight. It was a remarkable piece of work. It was a tough 12 hours, but we got the job done,” said Hearn.
Last Updated on 02/20/2025