Promoter Eddie Hearn says William Zepeda will “duck” Shakur Stevenson in early 2025 rather than taking that fight. He doesn’t say why he thinks Zepeda would do that because he’s been hard, climbing the ranks to challenge Shakur for his WBC lightweight title.
Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs) isn’t the type to duck anyone, considering he’s been calling out Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) since the New Jersey native won the WBC 135-lb belt last November.
It will be a big letdown for Hearn if Zepeda knocks out Shakur because he signed him to an expensive two-fight deal with Matchroom with the idea of setting up for a mega-fight against Gervonta Davis in 2025.
What Hearn should do is match Shakur against a weak opponent like Joe Cordina when he comes back from his hand surgery in early 2025 and then make the fight with Gervonta Davis in mid-2025. Shakur can beat Cordina.
Hearn has been talking about turning Shakur into a “global superstar” in a short time, making some fans wonder whether he’s actually watched him fight before. If Hearn had watched Shakur fight, he’d know he’s deadweight and not someone capable of beating Zepeda, Tank David, Abdullah Mason, or Vasily Lomachenko.
Shakur hasn’t shown the ability to be a star of any kind. Right now, he’s just a guy who won the WBC title in a fight that was booed nonstop against Edwin De Los Santos last year. He’s only fought once since, laboring to a dull 12-round decision against the light-hitting Artem Harutyunyan, who was coming off a loss to Frank Martin.
Zepeda’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy, wants Stevenson and views him as very beatable for the Mexican knockout artist. The 28-year-old Zepeda is rated #1 with the IBF, WBA, WBC, and WBO at lightweight.
Next month, Zepeda is taking on the crafty former IBF super featherweight champion Tevin Farmer (33-6-1, 8 KOs) as a tune-up opponent on November 16th on “Latino Night” at The Venue in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“In my opinion, Zepeda will duck Shakur,” said Eddie Hearn to Fight Hub TV, predicting that William Zepeda will swerve a title shot against WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson in early 2025.
Hearn may end up wishing that Zepeda ducked Shakur, given this fight could go badly for the WBC 135-lb champion. Shakur barely beat Edwin De Los Santos last November, being forced to move to all night in a fight that could have gone either way. Zepeda is far better at cutting off the ring than De Los Santos, and he’s going to be attacking the entire night.
In Shakur’s last fight against Artem Harutyunyan, we saw that he lacks the offensive skills to stand his ground with his opponents at lightweight and is forced to move. Shakur won’t last any longer than Giovanni Cabrera, Maxi Hughes, and Mercito Gesta if he stands and fights Zepeda.
“Listen, it’s his best shot right now. Shakur is coming off the hand operation, and he’s going to be coming straight back into the fight. Zepeda has got the warmup fight against Tevin Farmer [on November 16th]. It’s a nice style to gear up for Shakur. I don’t think Oscar [De La Hoya] will do it. It’ll eat him up too bad,” said Hearn.
Hopefully, Hearn isn’t banking on Zepeda ducking the fight against Shakur because that will probably not happen. Why would Zepeda duck a fight against Shakur and miss out on his quickest path to a world title?
It’s not like Gervonta will give Zepeda a chance to fight for his belt or IBF champ Lomachenko. If Zepeda doesn’t take advantage of this opportunity to fight Shakur for his belt, it could take years for him to get another chance.
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