Promoter Eddie Hearn says William Zepeda will “duck” Shakur Stevenson in early 2025 instead of taking that fight. He doesn’t say why he thinks Zepeda would do that because he’s been tough, climbing the ranks to challenge Shakur for his WBC lightweight title.
Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs) isn’t the guy to duck anyone, considering he’s called out Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) since the New Jersey native won the WBC 135-lb belt last November .
It will be a huge disappointment for Hearn if Zepeda knocks out Shakur because he signed him to an expensive two-fight deal with Matchroom with the idea of setting up a mega-fight against Gervonta Davis in 2025.
What Hearn should do is match Shakur against a weak opponent like Joe Cordina when he returns from hand surgery in early 2025 and then fight Gervonta Davis in mid 2025. Shakur can beat Cordina.
Hearn talked about turning Shakur into a “global superstar” in a short amount of time, causing some fans to wonder if he’s actually seen him fight before. If Hearn had seen Shakur fight, he would have known that he is a dead weight and not someone capable of beating Zepeda, Tank David, Abdullah Mason or Vasily Lomachenko.
Shakur has not shown the ability to be a star of any kind. Now, he’s just a guy who won the WBC title in a fight that was booed non-stop against Edwin De Los Santos last year. He has fought just once since then, coming off a boring 12-round decision against lightweight Artem Harutyunyan, who was coming off a loss to Frank Martin.
Zepeda’s promoter, Golden Boy’s Oscar De La Hoya, wants Stevenson and sees him as very beatable for the Mexican knockout artist. The 28-year-old Zepeda is ranked #1 with the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO at lightweight.
Next month, Zepeda faces wily former IBF super featherweight champion Tevin Farmer (33-6-1, 8 KOs) as a tune-up opponent on November 16th at “Latino Night” at The Venue in Riyadh, Arabia Saudi.
“In my opinion, Zepeda is going to prank Shakur,” Eddie Hearn said Fight Hub TVpredicting that William Zepeda will miss a title shot against WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson in early 2025.
Hearn may end up wanting Zepeda to knock out Shakur, as this fight could go badly for the WBC 135-lb champion. Shakur barely beat Edwin De Los Santos last November, being forced to go all night in a fight that could have gone either way. Zepeda is much better at cutting the ring than De Los Santos, and he’s going to be attacked all night.
In Shakur’s last fight against Artem Harutyunyan, we saw that he doesn’t have the offensive skills to stay on the ground with his lightweight opponents and is forced to move. Shakur will not outlast Giovanni Cabrera, Maxi Hughes and Mercito Gesta if he stays and fights Zepeda.
“Listen, that’s his best shot right now. Shakur is coming off hand surgery, and he’s going to be right back in the fight. Zepeda had the warm-up fight against Tevin Farmer (Nov. 16). It’s a great style to prepare for Shakur. I don’t think Oscar (De La Hoya) will do it too badly,” Hearn said.
I hope Hearn isn’t banking on Zepeda to blow the fight against Shakur because that probably isn’t going to happen. Why would Zepeda have a fight against Shakur and lose his fastest way to a world title?
It is not that Gervonta will give Zepeda the opportunity to fight for his belt or IBF champion Lomachenko. If Zepeda doesn’t take advantage of this opportunity to fight Shakur for his belt, it could be years before he gets another chance.
