Tevin Farmer says Shakur Stevenson will really have to “fight” William Zepeda to win because he throws too many punches for him to avoid them all.
WBC lightweight champion Shakur will fight No. 1 Zepeda (32-0, 27 KOs) in 2025, provided he wins his title defense against Floyd Schofield on Feb. 22 in Riyadh. Shakur is confident he will beat Zepeda, but Farmer has his doubts.
Zepeda’s Volume Punching
He obviously knows that the hit-and-run style that Stevenson uses won’t keep Zepeda off him because he cuts the ring well, and he’s willing to take shots to land his. Shakur has no power at all, and will not be able to escape from Zepeda without running.
That will not work. He will look bad in front of Turki Alalshikh if he tries that tactic against Zepeda in Riyadh.
With Zepeda’s high volume of more than 100 punches per round, Farmer says Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) would have to beat him like he did in their meeting last month on November 16th. Farmer (33-7-1, 8 KOs) tried to defend against Zepeda’s numerous punches, but it was useless.
Former IBF super-featherweight champion Farmer was forced to fight him, and he couldn’t keep up, especially in the championship rounds.
Zepeda wore down Farmer with his body and bulk to win a 10-round split decision. The scores were 95-95, 95-94 for Zepeda, and 95-94 for Farmer. I watched the fight and had Zepeda winning 8-2. It seems that the judges who worked the fight did not factor in the many body shots that Zepeda was landing in each round. They were just looking at the headers, which Farmer was focusing on.
If it had been a 12-round contest, he would have knocked Farmer out because the 34-year-old was tired by the ninth round and would not have made it through the twelve rounds without being stopped.
“Golden Boy is willing to do it. The only way the rematch won’t happen is if Zepeda’s team says no,” Tevin Farmer told the Cigar Talk channel about the rematch he wants against William Zepeda after losing to him on November 16th.
“Golden Boy wants to rematch. I’m not saying nobody told me anything. I’m saying Golden Boy wants to rematch. I’m pretty sure Turki wants to. It was a hell of a fight.
“You’ve got to get Zepeda to respect you to do it, because if you don’t, he’s going to keep moving forward,” Farmer said when asked how Shakur Stevenson would fare against William Zepeda.
Farmer’s hopes of a rematch with Zepeda are wishful thinking, because Golden Boy isn’t going to push for that fight. They know the money fight, the one Zepeda needs and wants, is against Shakur. The farmer has nothing to offer Zepeda. He is not a champion and has lost his last two fights.
The farmer needs to go back to the super featherweight because he doesn’t have the power to beat the lightweights. If he stays in the 135-lb weight class, he will continue to lose and be forced out of the game.
Shakur warned about Zepeda
“Zepeda is a pressure fighter, and he doesn’t throw a lot of punches; it’s easy to pick someone apart like that,” Farmer said. “It’s easy to pick on a person who comes close and doesn’t throw a lot of punches. When someone comes close and throws a lot of punches, how many punches can you make someone miss, even with my defense?”
“I’m one of the best defensive fighters. I can stand there and not get hit if I want to. I know I can’t because how many punches can I throw? Yeah, Shakur’s going to have to fight (Zepeda). Shakur, to me, is one of the best in the world, but he will have to fight,” said Farmer.
Zepeda forced Farmer to argue with him because he would cut off the ring and trap him against the ropes. It was either Farmer who had to fight, or he had been beaten by Zepeda. It will be the same with Shakur. He doesn’t have the power, toughness, or courage that Farmer has. There is no way Stevenson could take the kind of shots that Farmer did against Zepeda without getting knocked out or running and holding on.
“I’m not saying he’s going to do what I did. I’m built different. I have a chin, I can give, and I can do all that. I’m not saying he (Shakur) won’t, but he’s going to have to fight,” he said Farmer on how he is better than Stevenson, because he stays in the pocket and will be willing to trade.
“I feel like I should have gotten the win. With the layoff, it was the icing on the cake for me to get rid of it. Everyone has their opinion, but I don’t care,” said Farmer on his belief that he did enough to earn a win against Zepeda.
