Boxing

Josh Padley Receives Flowers From Boxing Fans After Loss To Shakur Stevenson

Despite losing his fight to Shakur Stevenson, Josh Padley won the night.
Grant Young|
Josh Padley celebrates victory against Mark Chamberlain on September 21, 2024.
Josh Padley celebrates victory against Mark Chamberlain on September 21, 2024. | IMAGO / PA Images

One of the biggest stories heading into Riyadh Season's 'The Last Crescendo' card was that Floyd "Kid Austin" Schofield had to withdraw from his fight against Shakur Stevenson for the WBC lightweight title just a few days before the bout was scheduled to take place.

As a result, an undefeated and largely unknown English boxer named Josh Padley was made alate-notice replacement to face Stevenson on February 22.

The most fascinating aspect of Padley's story is that he also works as an electrician in addition to boxing.

The Stevenson vs. Padley fight has now come and gone. And as just about everybody expected, Stevenson secured a victory via stoppage in the 9th round to retain his belt.

However, Padley did not go down without a fight. He fought bravely and fearlessly and arguably won a round or two against the champion before ultimately suffering defeat. But considering that he was either on the couch or fixing someone's electricity at the beginning of this week, fans are showering Padley with praise after his performance against the champion.

"Josh Padley had no camp and was working as an electrician five days ago.

"Today he went nine rounds against one of the best fighters in the world in Shakur Stevenson.

"Josh Padley earned the respect of boxing fans today," one X user wrote.

Another added, "Josh Padley, take a bow kid. What a heart man. Lasted probably 6-7 rounds more than most expected him to. Unreal on a few days notice against one of the best on the planet."

"4 days ago Josh Padley was working an early morning shift as an electrician

He just went 9 rounds with Shakur Stevenson on short notice. Respect 🫡," wrote Happy Punch.

Padley has certainly earned himself a ton of new fans after this performance and hopefully will earn more high-level boxing opportunities in the future.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young is a Staff Writer for On SI’s Boxing, New York Mets, Indiana Fever, and Women’s Fastbreak sites. Before joining SI in 2024, he wrote for various boxing and sports verticals such as FanBuzz and NY Fights. Young has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in creative writing with an emphasis on sports nonfiction from the University of San Francisco, where he played five seasons of Division 1 baseball. He fought Muay Thai professionally in Thailand in 2023, loves a good essay, and is driven crazy trying to handle a pitpull puppy named Aura. Young lives in San Diego and was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.