Shakur Stevenson and William Zepeda have reportedly verbally agreed to a fight on October 12 on the undercard of the light heavyweight unification fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Blockbuster addition to the Beterbiev-Bivol Undercard
Stevenson-Zepeda would be a great addition to the undercard of Beterbiev vs Bivol on October 12. It would be another example of the Honorable Turki Alalshikh putting together a great event.
Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) will defend his WBC lightweight title against his #1 contender, Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs). It's not the fight that Shakur, 27, a native of New Jersey, has been asking for against Gervonta 'Tank' Davis, but one of the ones on his list that he wants.
Zepeda's promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, made good on his fight with Shakur after the World Boxing Council recently ordered the two to begin negotiations.
[Trainer] Jay 'Panda' Najar tells me that talks started to see William Zepeda take on Shakur Stevenson for the WBC Lightweight title. The 'Camarón' will be ready at the end of November or December,” Salvador Rodriguez told X.
De La Hoya had said on social media that no one tells his star Zepeda who he should fight. However, this fight may be very good for Zepeda because if he does not take it, he may have to wait a long time before he finally gets the chance to fight for the world title.
Lance Pugmire and Salvador Rodriguez announced that the Shakur-Zepeda fight is on. It's dangerous for Shakur because he's not a fighter and has come up short 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 last year, and it's becoming increasingly clear that he's not built for this weight class.
A great opportunity for Zepeda
Zepeda's high-pressure fighting style will make things difficult for Stevenson, who doesn't have the strength to stand up to him one-on-one. Shakur's last two opponents, Artem Harutyunyan and Edwin De Los Santos gave him a lot of respect and did not attack him the way Zepeda did.
It will be difficult for Shakur to stay on the ride for twelve laps without being forced to contend with Zepeda, who will target his body, making it difficult to stay on his bike.
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