Shakur Stevenson and William Zepeda have reportedly verbally agreed on a fight that could take place on October 12th on the undercard of the light heavyweight unification fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
A Blockbuster Addition to Beterbiev-Bivol Undercard
Stevenson-Zepeda would be an excellent addition to the Beterbiev vs. Bivol undercard on October 12th. It would be another example of His Excellency Turki Alalshikh putting together an outstanding event.
Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) would defend his WBC lightweight title against his #1 challenger, Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs). It’s not the fight that the New Jersey native Shakur, 27, has been asking for against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, but it’s one of the ones on his list that he’s wanted.
Zepeda’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, had acted cool about him fighting Shakur after the World Boxing Council recently ordered the two to begin negotiations.
[Trainer] Jay ‘Panda’ Najar tells me that talks began to see William Zepeda vs. Shakur Stevenson for the WBC Lightweight title. ‘Camarón’ is ready for late November or December,” said Salvador Rodriguez on X.
De La Hoya had said on social media that no one tells his fighter Zepeda who to fight. However, this fight may be too good for Zepeda to pass up because if he doesn’t take it, he may have to wait a long time before finally getting the opportunity to compete for a world title.
Lance Pugmire and Salvador Rodriguez have announced that the Shakur-Zepeda fight is underway. It’s a risky one for Shakur because he’s not much of a puncher and has performed poorly in two of his three fights since moving up to the 135-lb division in 2023.
Stevenson only looked good in his first lightweight fight against Shuichiro Yoshino a year ago, and it’s become increasingly clear that he’s not built for this weight class.
A Big Opportunity for Zepeda
Zepeda’s high-pressure fighting style will make things difficult for Stevenson, who doesn’t have the power to stand and fight him in a one-on-one approach. Shakur’s last two opponents, Artem Harutyunyan and Edwin De Los Santos gave him too much respect and did not attack him the way Zepeda would.
It’ll be difficult for Shakur to stay on the move for twelve rounds without getting forced to brawl with Zepeda, who will target his body, making it difficult to stay on his bike.
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