It looked like Saturday's WBC lightweight championship fight at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was up the creek without a paddle, following an unexpected late withdrawal. That was until Josh Padley stepped in, at just four days- notice, to replace Floyd ‘’Kid Austin’’ Schofield, who has fallen ill and awaits the results of tests carried out in hospital from which he has now been discharged. Josh is ranked twelfth by the WBC, who along with the British Board of Boxing Control, have approved the lad from Yorkshire to fight the sublimely skilled champion Shakur Stevenson. Prior to getting the life-changing call, Josh was already deep in training to fight Dalton Smith in April in Sheffield, the Steel City. Now he`ll be testing his mettle against the champion from Newark, New Jersey. .
Padley's trainer and manager Stefy ‘’Crazy’’ Bull stresses: ‘’This will change his life whatever the result.’’
For Armthorpe born Josh aged twenty- nine, this fight against brilliant Shakur, who has already won world titles at three different weights, is a huge step up in class, it`ll earn him plenty of ‘’Brass,’’and he himself is still unbeaten with a record of 15-0, 4 KOs. Southpaw Shakur who is two years younger has built a record of 22-0, 10 KOs.
Shakur whose timing, reflexes, anticipation, deliverance, defence and defiance is impeccable, is difficult to hit, hook or pin down and he`s elusive. He counter- punches beautifully and he can parry as well as neutralize opponents` offense. He doesn`t possess ice pick punching power but can box circles around rivals.
Josh who has fought in Yorkshire hotspots including: Leeds, Doncaster, Bradford, Sheffield and Rotherham, hit the headlines last September when he took the train to London and fought then undefeated Mark Chamberlain on the undercard of Anthony Joshua Vs Daniel Dubois at Wembley.
Josh knocked down Mark in the eighth round with a peach of a left hook applying: ‘’Ecky Thump,’’ as they say in Yorkshire. Mark was then deducted a point in the next round for pushing. At the end of ten entertaining rounds, Josh won a UD. He jubilantly said: ‘’Nobody believed I could do it, but I stuck to the gameplan and I got that victory.’’ This time around Josh is up against a Maestro of stick and move. He must stick to Shakur like a barnacle because if he doesn`t, as they say in Yorkshire, there will be: ‘’Trouble at Mill!’’ Josh needs to cotton on fast, apply needle and prevent Shakur from dancing a merry reel.
Little is expected of Josh, so he has nothing to lose and potentially everything to gain. In the film entitled: ‘’The Imitation Game,’’ which was about breaking the Enigma Code Joan Clarke said to genius Alan Turing: ‘’Sometimes it is the people who no one imagines anything of…. who can do the things that no one can imagine.’’
Realistically and coming back down to earth with a bump, it is going to be devilishly difficult for Josh Padley to decipher the style of Shakur Stevenson. He`s going to need cunning and human guile, rather than AI or Artificial Intelligence to have a chance of achieving the Shock of the Century. Cold, hard statistics mean something. It isn`t easy to square a circle or encircle a supremo.
Shakur likes to fight in a relaxed, unhurried medium pace, picking his shots and deftly avoiding incoming fire with the skills of Pythagoras. So, Josh must hurry, harry and not tarry, trying to force him out of his comfort zone, exploiting all angles. When pressured or irked, Shakur can dip into his extensive and expansive tool bag to provide a dazzling array of artillery which carries poignant pinpoint accuracy, rather than blunderbuss power.
Both Shakur and Josh were preparing for very different types of fights. Who will adapt better in order to prevail? The odds, factors and track record experience are obviously on Shakur`s side and suggest him. So, what can a dark horse achieve when boxed in on the rails? He must try to stretch his legs and go for broke in order to provide the fight of his life.
