Shakur Stevenson and William Zepeda have reportedly verbally agreed on a combat that might happen on October twelfth on the undercard of the sunshine heavyweight unification combat between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
A Blockbuster Addition to Beterbiev-Bivol Undercard
Stevenson-Zepeda can be a superb addition to the Beterbiev vs. Bivol undercard on October twelfth. It could be one other instance of His Excellency Turki Alalshikh placing collectively an excellent occasion.
Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) would defend his WBC light-weight title towards his #1 challenger, Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs). It’s not the combat that the New Jersey native Shakur, 27, has been asking for towards Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, nevertheless it’s one of many ones on his record that he’s needed.
Zepeda’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, had acted cool about him combating Shakur after the World Boxing Council just lately ordered the 2 to start negotiations.
[Trainer] Jay ‘Panda’ Najar tells me that talks started to see William Zepeda vs. Shakur Stevenson for the WBC Light-weight title. ‘Camarón’ is prepared for late November or December,” stated Salvador Rodriguez on X.
De La Hoya had stated on social media that nobody tells his fighter Zepeda who to combat. Nevertheless, this combat could also be too good for Zepeda to move up as a result of if he doesn’t take it, he could have to attend a very long time earlier than lastly getting the chance to compete for a world title.
Lance Pugmire and Salvador Rodriguez have introduced that the Shakur-Zepeda combat is underway. It’s a dangerous one for Shakur as a result of he’s not a lot of a puncher and has carried out poorly in two of his three fights since transferring as much as the 135-lb division in 2023.
Stevenson solely regarded good in his first light-weight combat towards Shuichiro Yoshino a yr in the past, and it’s develop into more and more clear that he’s not constructed for this weight class.
A Massive Alternative for Zepeda
Zepeda’s high-pressure combating model will make issues tough for Stevenson, who doesn’t have the ability to face and combat him in a one-on-one strategy. Shakur’s final two opponents, Artem Harutyunyan and Edwin De Los Santos gave him an excessive amount of respect and didn’t assault him the way in which Zepeda would.
It’ll be tough for Shakur to remain on the transfer for twelve rounds with out getting compelled to brawl with Zepeda, who will goal his physique, making it tough to remain on his bike.
