Shakur Stevenson, WBC lightweight Champion, told DAZN tonight that he’d be interested in defending against his #1 contender, William Zepeda, next.
The unbeaten Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) says he feels Zepeda’s fighting style would bring out his best. However, he said he hadn’t made up his mind about who he was going to sign with next as a free agent.
De La Hoya Sets Conditions
Zepeda’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, posted on social media that he’ll only fight Shakur if he’s signed with Golden Boy Promotions. If that’s true, Shakur only has one option if he wants the Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs) fight, and that’s to sign with Oscar.
“He throws a bunch of punches; he’s great with his style. But a guy like that would bring the best out of me,” said Shakur to DAZN about Zepeda.
That would be a tough fight for Shakur. He can’t fight Zepeda like he did Artem Harutyunyan last Saturday night because he punches too hard and throws far too many punches. Zepeda won’t run around the ring like Harutyunyan did; if Shakur attempts to punch him, it won’t end well for him.
Zepeda throws nonstop shots, and he would chop Shakur up as he did Giovanni Cabrera and Maxi Hughes. Shakur is from the same cloth as those fighters regarding power and finesse-oriented.
If Shakur fought Zepeda, he would need to move all night like he did against Edwin De Los Santos and Jeremiah Nakathilia for him to win. It would be boring for the fans, and Shakur’s popularity would continue to drop.
Stevenson might not win a decision fighting like that against Zepeda unless the judges forgave his reluctance to fight. They were when he fought De Los Santos, but he might not get lucky against Zepeda because his timid nature would be even more apparent against him.
Promotional Considerations
Stevenson has been praising promoter Eddie Hearn a lot this week, and some believe that’s his destination to ink with Matchroom Boxing. Hearn doesn’t have a deep stable at 135. Indeed, the only fighter Hearn can offer Shakur at lightweight is Andy Cruz, the 2020 Olympic gold medalist, who is a pure boxer.
He’s not well known, and Shakur won’t make a goldmine fighting him. He might lose to him because he’s a skilled fighter with an identical safety-first style.
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