“Shakur would never fight Kid just like Tank would never fight Kid,” Schofield Sr. said to MillCity Boxing.
Schofield Sr. insisted his criticism was not personal toward Shakur and argued that fighters at the top of the sport are simply chasing larger paydays in higher divisions instead of taking dangerous fights for less money at lightweight.
“They got bigger fights at 140 for 20 million, 15 million,” Schofield Sr. said. “Why come mess around down here where they got the potential of getting knocked out for way less money?”
The biggest part of Schofield Sr.’s argument involved Shakur’s lack of knockout power and whether he could keep an aggressive pressure puncher off him for 12 rounds.
“Shakur only got 11 knockouts,” Schofield Sr. said. “There’s no way he’s gonna fight somebody like Kid and be able to survive 12 rounds.”
Schofield Sr. believes his son’s combination of speed, movement, and power would create major problems stylistically for Stevenson.
“How would he keep a power puncher like Kid that got movement and speed off of him?” Schofield Sr. said. “It would be the wrong style for Shakur.”
Schofield Sr. also criticized what he sees as modern matchmaking in boxing, arguing that too many fighters are avoiding difficult opponents to protect unbeaten records and maximize earnings.
“There’s no way you could build legacy running scary, selecting fighters,” Schofield Sr. said.
Stevenson has recently been linked to possible future fights against Devin Haney and Gervonta Davis, while Schofield continues building his profile at lightweight.
Shakur also has a built-in defense against criticism about never fighting Schofield because the two were already scheduled to fight on February 22, 2025, before Schofield was pulled from the bout during fight week in Riyadh around February 18-19.
Stevenson later questioned whether Schofield was fully prepared for the matchup, while Schofield’s team maintained the withdrawal was tied to medical issues and the commission’s decision to remove him from the card.
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