Shakur Stevenson is on a two-fight plan which is targeted at landing a mega-fight with Gervonta “Tank” Davis next year, Eddie Hearn, chairman of Matchroom Boxing and Stevenson’s promoter said.
Newark’s Stevenson, 27, who is billed to defend his WBC lightweight title against 32-year-old Welshman Joe Cordina on Oct. 12 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, could slug it out with William Zepeda in February if he comes out victorious.
Hearn said the initial plan was for Stevenson to go into a straight fight with Zepeda after joining Matchroom Boxing but the Mexican had different plans.
“A very simple two-fight plan at the moment which is Joe Cordina and William Zepeda,” Hearn told DAZN. “His Excellency [Turki Alalshikh] has already laid the plan for that two-fight deal but Zepeda made himself up for November as well. That was a surprise to us because we wanted to go straight into that fight, but Shakur is happy.”
The WBC lightweight champion Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) and Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs) were reported to have verbally agreed to a lightweight showdown on Oct. 12 after Stevenson signed a promotional deal with Matchroom, but the fight fell through. The Newark native then moved on to sign a deal to face Cordina 17-1 (9 KOs), a former IBF junior lightweight titlist.
Despite many criticizing the matchup, Hearn believes Cordina will be a great opponent for Stevenson at 135.
“Joe Cordina is a real fight,” said Hearn. “This is a top fighter moving up to lightweight and he’s gonna be comfortable there. He’s a great tactician, very skillful. It’s actually a brilliant match up.”
While Stevenson is expected to go past Cordina with ease, a possible showdown next with Zepeda could be the biggest challenge of his career. Hearn believes that fight should be enough from Stevenson to make the Davis clash a reality.
“If Shakur comes through there against Cordina, that fight with Zepeda is locked in, and then we wanna see him move on and fight Gervonta Davis in 2025. I think the guy is a superstar and a big fight is coming for him on October 12.
“That’s gonna happen next year. That’s the request of His Excellency to make those two fights.”
Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at [email protected]
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