WBC light-weight champion Shakur Stevenson and Joe Cordina have agreed to a combat on October twelfth in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Stevenson-Cordina will combat on the Dmitry Bivol vs. Artur Beterbiev undercard reside on DAZN PPV on the Kingdom Area. It’s unclear if Shakur might be within the co-feature combat on the cardboard or buried beneath a few fights.
Putting the Shakur-Cordina combat within the tightly seen chief assist spot could be dangerous for His Excellency Turki Alalshikh simply in case Stevenson turns in one other considered one of his timid performances like followers witnessed in his final two fights in opposition to Artem Harutyunyan and Edwin De Los Santos. The very last thing Turki wants is for the followers to be booing or strolling out of the sector earlier than the primary occasion.
Stevenson, 27, reportedly signed a one-fight take care of Eddie Hearn and can combat Matchroom fighter Cordina. Cordina just lately misplaced his IBF tremendous featherweight title final Might in an eighth-round knockout to Anthony Cacace.
One other Opponent Coming Off a Loss
“There may be an settlement for Shakur Stevenson vs Joe Cordina on October 12 on the Beterbiev vs. Bivol night in Saudi Arabia. Shakur has signed solely this combat with Matchroom as a result of he desires to be free in 2025 and negotiate with Gervonta Davis,” stated Julius Julianis on X.
What makes this an particularly dangerous opponent selection for Shakur is that he’s dealing with one other man coming off a loss, which makes it two in a row for him. Shakur’s final opponent, Artem Harutyunyan, was coming off a loss to Frank Martin in his earlier combat.
It could have been good for Shakur to lift the bar by combating somebody like Andy Cruz, who Hearn promotes, Raymond Muratalla, Floyd Schofield, or Edwin De Los Santos. At the least one or two of these fighters would have readily agreed to combat Shakur for the payday they might get from Turki.
If it was Hearn’s thought for Shakur to combat Cordina to assist considered one of his needy Matchroom fighters, you can provide him a move. However he nonetheless didn’t do Shakur any favors by deciding on Cordina as a result of he’s not well-known within the U.S., and the followers that do know of him noticed him get destroyed by Anthony Cacace final Might.
It’s not a well-liked choose by Shakur taking up Cordina, nevertheless it’s par for the course for the Newark, New Jersey native. He’s not taken on any attention-grabbing opponents since shifting as much as 135 after capturing world titles at 126 and 130.
