Shakur Stevenson revealed on social media that he’s began coaching camp for his subsequent protection of his WBC light-weight title towards Joe Cordina on October twelfth, on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol on the Kingdom Enviornment in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Matchroom nonetheless must make the Stevenson-Cordina combat official.
This may reportedly be a one-fight deal for WBC light-weight champion Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) to signal with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing for the Cordina combat. Shakur needs to be a free agent for 2025 to make a unification combat towards Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.
Social media response to Stevenson combating Cordina is blended. Most followers dislike the choose however view it as a case of Hearn serving to out one among his Matchroom fighters, Cordina, by giving him a pleasant payday that he doesn’t price towards Shakur. He’d by no means get there if the #13 WBC Cordina needed to work his method to a title shot towards Shakur.
One other Rebound Opponent for Stevenson?
Stevenson hasn’t set the world on hearth since shifting to the 135-lb division in 2023. In Shakur’s three fights, he’s overwhelmed these guys:
– Artem Harutyunyan
– Edwin De Los Santos: *controversial
– Shuichiro Yoshino
Promoter Eddie Hearn said final week that negotiations had began for Cordina (17-1, 9 KOs) to face Shakur subsequent. Shakur will let Hearn announce the combat.
If Cordina is certainly the opponent Shakur is defending towards, it could be just like his final combat towards Artem Harutyunyan, by which he confronted a fighter coming off a loss. Frank Martin had overwhelmed Harutyunyan in his earlier combat earlier than going through Shakur for his WBC title.
Unusually, Shakur is making a reputation for himself, combating low-level fighters coming off losses, however this is likely to be the very best he can do. His efficiency towards Edwin De Los Santos was so dangerous that it might have been completely marginalized.
“There’s an settlement for Shakur Stevenson vs. Joe Cordina on October 12 on the Beterbiev-Bivol card in Saudi Arabia,” says JuliusJulianis on X. “Shakur has signed solely this combat with Matchroom as a result of he needs to be free in 2025 and negotiate with Gervonta Davis.”
Cordina, 32, has moved as much as 135 following shedding his IBF title to Anthony Cacace by an eighth-round knockout on Could 18th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The British fighter, Cordina, didn’t look good in that loss to Cacace, showing gradual and getting hit rather a lot.
Joe Cordina had struggled in his two prior fights towards Shavkat Rakhimov and Edward Vazquez. He’d regarded poor in each fights, so it’s unsurprising that Cacace dethroned him.
Speculations on the Struggle Date and Card Placement
There’s hypothesis that Shakur vs. Cordina will likely be packaged with His Excellancy’s October twelfth occasion, headlined by Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol in Riyadh. If Shakur is defending towards Cordina subsequent, it might wind up on the undercard.
It’s not an incredible combat, however it’s worthy of being on the undercard of Beterbiev-Bivol on the #2 or #3 spot, relying on who else is on the cardboard.
Followers don’t perceive why Shakur would defend towards Cordina when the extremely ranked #2 Raymond Muratalla, #4 Edwin De Los Santos, and #6 Andy Cruz await an opportunity to combat for a world title.
Attributable to their energy and expertise, these guys can be critical threats to Shakur. In distinction, Cordina is a safer guess for Shakur to maintain him successful lengthy sufficient to face William Zepeda in February.
Hearn promotes Cordina, and he is likely to be the one who selected him for Shakur. If Hearn indicators the free agent Shakur to his Mathroom Boxing steady, an in-house combat towards Cordina will make a variety of sense. It makes British followers blissful and helps Hearn give Cordina a fast title shot for a pleasant pick-me-up.
1st day of camp right now 😈
— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) August 19, 2024
