UNDEFEATED lightweight Jadier Herrera was snubbed as a late stand-in for Shakur Stevenson last month, Frank Warren has revealed.

After sustaining a fight-week illness, 22-year-old Floyd Schofield was forced to withdraw from his scheduled crack at Stevenson’s WBC title at the Venue Riyadh Season on February 22.

On only a few days’ notice, Doncaster electrician Josh Padley famously accepted the fight and boarded a flight that day in order to face the champion.

But after a valiant display, the 29-year-old was dropped three times en route to a stoppage at the end of the ninth round.

Now Warren has revealed that Liverpool-based Cuban puncher Herrera was put forward as an option to replace Schofield, but Team Stevenson ‘didn’t want to know’.

The 22-year-old is 16-0 with 14 quick and on Saturday night will make his third appearance since signing with Queensberry Promotions last summer when he faces 21-3-2 Mexican Jose Macias Enriquez over 10 at the Echo Arena, Liverpool.

He is currently No.10 with the WBC and the plan is to maneuver him into a mandatory position before the year is out - but Warren says they tried to skip the queue last month instead.

The Hall of Fame promoter told The Ring: “We offered it to them but they didn’t want to know. And had he stepped in, I think he would have beaten Stevenson.

“What was their thinking in turning it down? Well they didn’t fancy it, otherwise they would have taken it. He’s a handful and Shakur wouldn’t have been able to keep him off.

“Winning a world title is the ambition with Jadier. We have to get him in a position where he is mandatory challenger. I think that can happen this year, he is ready to go.”