WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson has suffered an injury that is forcing the cancellation of his October 12 title defense against former super featherweight titlist Joe Cordina. The bout was slated to be the chief support underneath the Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol light heavyweight unification bout in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Stevenson-Cordina was also set to be new Matchroom signee Stevenson’s first pay-per-view headlining spot, atop a DAZN PPV show that, oddly and confusingly enough, doesn’t include the Beterbiev-Bivol fight, which will air, off-PPV, on ESPN+.
Somehow boxing will go on.
Per official Matchroom Boxing statement:
“Due to a hand injury sustained by Shakur Stevenson, he is unable to compete against Joe Cordina on the Bivol-Beterbiev undercard at the upcoming Riyadh Season event on October 12 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The WBC World Lightweight Champion has undergone immediate surgery. After a successful period of recovery, Stevenson is set to return to the ring in early 2025.”
Per Stevenson via Instagram:
“God works in mysterious ways thru the ups and downs I’m steady hungry and motivated more then ever. 2025 gone be my best year yet. Surgery went great it’s a minor set back for a major comeback #ChasingGreatness”
In an interview with his own company videographer, Matchroom bossman Eddie Hearn added a bit more to his company’s media release:
“He sent a pic of his hand last night, after a session of sparring, I believe, and tore a tendon in his knuckle and had to have immediate surgery. So, unfortunately, he’s out of the Joe Cordina fight on October 12 and won’t return until early 2025. [I’m] hoping for a good job in there [ in the surgery] and back to work as soon as possible. He’s very disappointed. Obviously, he was looking forward to fighting in Riyadh Season, but he needs to get this done.”
The scheduled October 12 DAZN PPV, by the way, will go on as planned, sans Stevenson-Cordina. The card still features Jai Opetaia defending his IBF cruiserweight title against Jack Massey, Chris Eubank Jr. versus Kamil Szeremeta, the Fabio Wardley-Frazer Clarke rematch, light heavyweight prospect Ben Whittaker, and Skye Nicolson defending her WBC featherweight belt against Raven Chapman.
There’s no word yet as to how this hand injury will affect Stevenson’s big fight plans, which were supposed to really kick off in the first quarter of 2025, after this bonus “gimme” fight against Cordina. Rumors of a possible bout with no. 1 contender William Zepeda (who is tied to a November Tevin Farmer contest) in February, for example, will go nowhere now– if they were ever going anywhere in the first place.
Paul Magno has over forty years of experience in and around the sport of boxing and has had his hand in everything from officiating to training. As a writer, his work has appeared on Yahoo Sports, Fox Sports, Fight Hype, Max Boxing, Boxing.com, Inside Fights, The Queensberry Rules, Overtime Heroics, Bleacher Report, and Premier Boxing Champions. He is currently the owner and managing editor or The Boxing Tribune. You can follow his Twitter/X account, @boxing_tribune, for breaking boxing news, analysis, and sometimes NSFW commentary. For Advertising, Inquiries, etc., send him an email here: paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com
I don’t understand why they cancel the fight if Shakur Stevenson’s injury is just a hand problem. Can’t they just reschedule it? Also, why is the Beterbiev-Bivol fight on ESPN+ and not part of the same PPV? It makes no sense. Boxing fans like me just want to see the big fights together in one place. This whole thing seems confusing and poorly planned.