Stevenson to defend title vs. Cordina on Oct. 12

Shakur Stevenson will defend his WBC lightweight title against Joe Cordina on Oct. 12 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, announced Tuesday.

The fight will serve as the co-feature to the long-awaited Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol undisputed light heavyweight championship fight.

“[Stevenson’s] talented and young and if he’s smart, we will do a lot of things with him,” Alalshikh told ESPN. “There’s a big fight with him in the future.”

Alalshikh was referring to a clash with undefeated Mexican volume puncher William Zepeda, a bout that could take place early next year.

Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) is ESPN’s No. 9 pound-for-pound boxer. A champion in three divisions, Stevenson was promoted by Top Rank since his pro debut. Now, the 27-year-old from Newark, New Jersey, will fight under the Riyadh Season banner.

Cordina (17-1, 9 KOs) is reeling from his first loss, an eighth-round TKO against Anthony Cacace in May in Riyadh when he lost his 130-pound title. The 32-year-old Welshman will compete in his fifth consecutive title fight.

The undercard will also feature the first Riyadh Season women’s fight, a title bout between Skye Nicholson and Raven Chapman.

“This is the beginning and we will have a lot of fights with women in the future,” Alalshikh said.

Also on the undercard, IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia will defend against Jack Massey, and Chris Eubank Jr. will meet Kamil Szeremeta. Heavyweights Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clark will meet in a rematch of their thrilling February fight that ended in a draw.

“The most important thing is, my door is open for everyone,” Alalshikh said. “For Al Haymon, Top Rank, Oscar [De La Hoya], Eddie [Hearn], Queensberry, Ben Shalom, everyone.”

Alalshikh said he is exploring a heavyweight battle between Martin Bakole and Zhilei Zhang that could take place later this year in Africa or China, where the fighters hail from, respectively.

Bakole is coming off a career-best win, a fifth-round TKO over Jared Anderson earlier this month. Zhang, too, is coming off a fifth-round TKO win over an American, a spectacular finish of former champion Deontay Wilder in June.

Bakole and Zhang are each 6-foot-6 and around 285 pounds.

“Who else is giving Bakole the opportunity?” Alalshikh said. “This is his second fight with us in 10 months.”