Shakur Stevenson vs Joe Cordina is off
Michael Benson announced the breaking news on X: “Shakur Stevenson vs Joe Cordina is off and won’t take place on Oct 12th due to hand injury to Shakur.”
He added: “He intends to return in February and go straight into the William Zepeda fight.”
Shakur Stevenson (22-0, 10KO) was due to defend his WBC World lightweight title to Welshman and former IBF super-featherweight titlist Joe Cordina (17-1, 9KO) on October 12 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Their championship clash was due to be the chief support to the undisputed light-heavyweight showdown between unbeaten Russians Artur Beterbiev and Dmitriy Bivol.
It was due to be southpaw Shak’s first fight outside of the U.S. The Newark star has had all 22 pro fights at home since winning silver at the Rio 2016 Games. Three of his last four fights have been fought in his home state of New Jersey.
Stevenson has been on a collision course with #1 lightweight William Zepeda (31-0, 27KO) for some time now, and it appears fans will get their desired fight in early 2025.
The Mexican southpaw faces former world champ Tevin Farmer in November in the recently announced Latino Night card in Saudi.
If he comes through victorious, he will have adequate time to prepare for a February showdown with Stevenson.
Cordina, meanwhile, is left without an opponent and it’s unsure if there will be a replacement found or if he is off the show completely.