Shakur Stevenson says William Zepeda ‘would bring the best out of me’

Shakur Stevenson has predominantly taken his victory lap on social media over the last week following his unanimous decision win against Artem Harutyunyan on July 6.

On Saturday, the WBC lightweight champion and free agent star Stevenson was in Philadelphia for the Matchroom Boxing show headlined by Jaron “Boots” Ennis’ hometown fight and stoppage win against David Avanesyan. 

Stevenson’s contract with career-long promoter Top Rank ended following the Harutyunyan fight, and the Newark, New Jersey native has since been engaged in conversations with Floyd Mayweather Jr., Oscar De La Hoya and Eddie Hearn. 

“It’s lovely. I love seeing how everybody is out after me,” Stevenson said on DAZN.” I haven’t really made a decision yet. I can’t wait to sit at the table and talk and see who has the best options and set-up for me. And we’ll see where we go from there. 

“I want big fights. There are a lot of big-name fighters out there – William Zepeda, Gervonta Davis, Vasiliy Lomachenko – I want the biggest and best fights out there that are available.” 

Davis and Lomachenko appear to be headed for a fight against each other, which leaves the door open for Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) to potentially slug it out with his No. 1 contender Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs).

On the same day Stevenson bested Harutyunyan, Zepeda knocked out Giovanni Cabrera in three rounds.

“Zepeda is a hell of a fighter,” said Stevenson. “I don’t even think I’ve been in the ring in my professional career with a fighter like that. He throws a bunch of punches. He’s great with his own style and a guy like that will bring the best out of me.”

De La Hoya, Zepeda’s promoter, said the only way Stevenson gets the Zepeda fight is by signing with Golden Boy.

“I believe there’s absolutely an opportunity [to sign Stevenson],” De La Hoya told BoxingScene earlier in the week before the meeting with Stevenson took place on Thursday. 

“It all depends on what I want to offer [Stevenson]. It all depends on what fighters we have on our roster. It all depends on their vision. I promoted [Floyd] Mayweather for 16 fights. So, there’s a blueprint there. [Stevenson] needs opponents. He needs the right names. He needs William Zepeda.

“Shakur is in a similar situation [as Floyd Mayweather was earlier on during his career]. If we have the right opponents, we can build a new Mayweather.

“[Stevenson’s] a tremendous talent, probably one of the best top three guys out there in the world – seriously – and he’s still young. But I’m not sure what his market value is, and that’s what’s making it a little difficult.

“It doesn’t help when Shakur tells the world, ‘I don’t fight for the people, I fight for me.’ Well, you’ve got to fight for the fans. The fans pay you. The fans buy the tickets, buy the pay-per-views. Regardless, I think Shakur is one of the best fighters out there. If it makes sense for us, then I’m sure we can work something out.

“He has a lot of thinking to do. Not just signing with a promoter but looking at the details. What team can really help you to elevate to superstar status? He’s a fighter who deserves to make a lot of money – more than he’s making now. But it starts with him.”

Stevenson will meet with Hearn on Monday. 

“He’s a tremendous fighter but the business has got to be right for everybody,” said Hearn.

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.