WBC lightweight Champion’ Shakur Stevenson and his mandatory challenger William Zepeda have a scheduled purse bid on August 20th next month, with a 70-30 split in the Champion’ Stevenson’s favor if they can’t agree to terms before.
It remains to be seen whether Zepeda will choose to negotiate with Shakur. Zepeda’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya has already expressed opposition to the WBC ordering his fighter to face Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs).
Zepeda would have the last word about whether he wants to fight Shakur, who has a reputation for being a runner and not one to stand and engage with his opponents.
A 70/30 split would be a non-starter for Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs) and Golden Boy. That would need to change if the fight with Shakur were to have a chance of happening.
It’s unclear what De La Hoya would be looking to get for his fighter Zepeda, but a 55/45 split in favor of Shakur would be a likely figure. De La Hoya wouldn’t be happy seeing a talented fighter like Zepeda get 60/40 or 70/30 against Stevenson, who can’t sell and is booed even in his hometown.
Shakur isn’t a PPV fighter, and his last fight against Artem Harutyunyan reportedly brought in 8000+ fans for a venue that seats 16,755 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. If you’re only selling around half the seats in your hometown, it’s not a good sign.
De La Hoya has been vocal about wanting Zepeda to fight WBO lightweight champion Denhys Berinchyk for his title. However, he’s promoter by Top Rank, and the chances of Zepeda getting a shot against him ahead of Keyshawn Davis are slim.
On Monday, De La Hoya expressed his opposition to the WBC, telling his fighter, Zepeda, who he should fight. De La Hoya said this on X:
“Check this out: William Zepeda is so bad a** he has four sanctioning bodies to choose from. Nobody will tell him who he must fight next.”
It doesn’t sound too promising that Zepeda will take the fight with Shakur Stevenson, which leaves the WBC champion without the big name that he and his potential new promoter, Eddie Hearn, wanted.
Read the full article here
