WBC light-weight champion Shakur Stevenson and Joe Cordina have agreed to a battle on October twelfth in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Stevenson-Cordina will battle on the Dmitry Bivol vs. Artur Beterbiev undercard stay on DAZN PPV on the Kingdom Enviornment. It’s unclear if Shakur will likely be within the co-feature battle on the cardboard or buried under a few fights.
Putting the Shakur-Cordina battle 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 world earlier than the principle occasion.
Stevenson, 27, reportedly signed a one-fight cope with Eddie Hearn and can battle Matchroom fighter Cordina. Cordina not too long ago misplaced his IBF tremendous featherweight title final Could in an eighth-round knockout to Anthony Cacace.
One other Opponent Coming Off a Loss
“There’s 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 battle with Matchroom as a result of he needs to be free in 2025 and negotiate with Gervonta Davis,” mentioned Julius Julianis on X.
What makes this an particularly dangerous opponent selection for Shakur is that he’s going through 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 battle.
It might have been good for Shakur to boost the bar by combating somebody like Andy Cruz, who Hearn promotes, Raymond Muratalla, Floyd Schofield, or Edwin De Los Santos. At the very least one or two of these fighters would have readily agreed to battle Shakur for the payday they might get from Turki.
If it was Hearn’s thought for Shakur to battle Cordina to assist considered one of his needy Matchroom fighters, you may give him a cross. However he nonetheless didn’t do Shakur any favors by choosing 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 Could.
It’s not a preferred decide by Shakur taking up Cordina, but it surely’s par for the course for the Newark, New Jersey native. He’s not taken on any fascinating opponents since shifting as much as 135 after capturing world titles at 126 and 130.
