SHAKUR Stevenson’s October 12 title defence against Joe Cordina is off after the WBC lightweight champion suffered a hand injury. A statement from Matchroom revealed that Stevenson had undergone surgery. The recovery period involved means he will not return to the ring until 2025.
The Stevenson-Cordina bout was part of a packed supporting card to the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol main event, which had already been moved from an original summer date when Beterbiev suffered an injury.
This is a clear blow for Stevenson, who was making his promotional debut under Eddie Hearn’s umbrella. It also delays future plans regarding his WBC mandatory challenger William Zepeda, who boxes Tevin Farmer on November 16.
Shakur won the title by beating Edwin De Los Santos in 2023 and made a successful defence in July, defeating Artem Harutyunyan in Stevenson’s final bout under the Top Rank banner.
As for Joe Cordina, the former IBF super-featherweight champion will likely become the forgotten man in this scenario. It is understood that he will no longer fight on the October 12 card and will look for a ring return elsewhere, possibly in Monaco, where Matchroom are running a December card.
