Shakur Stevenson made the latest defence of his WBC lightweight title with a stoppage victory over Josh Padley last Saturday.
The 27-year-old from Newark, New Jersey was originally due to face American rival Floyd Schofield in Riyadh, before the 22-year-old was forced to pull out of the contest after he was struck down with illness during fight week.
Stevenson welcomed the challenge of then-undefeated Padley who had stepped in on a few days’ notice. Despite a valiant effort from ‘Paddy’, who had been working his day job when he got the call from Stevenson’s representatives, Shakur began to dig in some heavy body shots to drop the Brit several times before the his corner threw the towel in at the end of the ninth round.
It was the champion’s first outing since hand surgery on persistent injuries that he says will limit him to just two fights per year for the future.
Speaking to Seconds Out, Stevenson gave an honest assessment of his ongoing injuries and said he was aware of them during the Padley bout.
“In the third round I had hurt both my hands, so I kind of chilled for a little bit. I had to relax and not use them as much in the rounds that was coming up next. Once I felt they cooled down a little bit I picked up the pace and knew it was time to go. I could have ended it a lot earlier than I ended it to be honest, but once my hands were hurting I had to chill.”
Asked about seeking advice from the great Floyd Mayweather, who had various injuries to his hands during his career, Stevenson said he would be doing so.
“Yeah I had a conversation with him a long time ago, but I think we need to revisit the conversation and also, not only revisit the conversation I need to get more detail, more in-depth about everything that he done with his hands that helped him prevail through all of the notches that he had to deal with coming up.
“I’m definitely gonna call him, probably when I get back and settle down a little bit more, but I’m gonna call him and ask him exactly what he did, what I need to do, how do I help myself, how do I save my career.”
Stevenson remains unbeaten through 23 fights as a professional after defeating Padley, with many fans and pundits now urging him to finally secure a showdown with his long-term rival and WBA lightweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.
