SHAKUR STEVENSON has proven himself as one of the greatest defensive-minded fighters in the sport and is seen by many as the biggest threat to self-proclaimed ‘face of boxing’ and reigning WBA lightweight champion, Gervonta Davis.
However, as WBC champion himself, Stevenson, 22-0 (10 KOs), has obligations to fulfil and is expected to defend his world title against undefeated mandatory challenger, William Zepeda, 32-0 (27 KOs), later this year. Nevertheless, Stevenson’s promoter Eddie Hearn is hopeful that the bout can be negated, in order to stage a lucrative clash with Davis, 30-0 (28 KOs).
Zepeda had been linked to a scrap with Stevenson during late 2024 after the Mexican knocked out both Maxi Hughes and Giovanni Cabrera in a breakout year for the unbeaten knockout-artist, famed for his tremendous output and work rate.
Yet, despite his success, Zepeda and his team revealed that they wanted additional preparation before jumping in with Stevenson and decided to delay the bout in favour of a seemingly one-sided meeting against Tevin Farmer – a third southpaw in four outings prior to the expected collision with the left-handed champion.
Although, Zepeda’s confidence-builder was far from a smooth ride, as Farmer rolled back the years to deliver an impressively competitive performance, losing only via a controversial split-decision.
As a result, ‘Camaron’ has now opted to rematch the former IBF super featherweight champion next month, in a quest for a more conclusive win, whilst Stevenson will defend his crown against late-notice replacement, Josh Padley, 15-0 (4 KOs), on Saturday night.
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s action, promoter Eddie Hearn told Boxing News of his doubts that Zepeda genuinely wants the fight and admitted that he is instead seeking to focus on a potential all-American unification showdown against ‘Tank’ Davis, who fights WBA super featherweight champion Lamont Roach, 25-1-1 (10 KOs), next weekend.
“I don’t think that Zepeda really wants to fight Shakur, if I am honest. I think that we should focus our attention towards the Tank fight.
“What other fights are there out there for Tank? He has got a decent fight next, but he is a super featherweight. Tank will want to be in big fights, he will want to make big money and I think the biggest fight out there for him is Shakur Stevenson and vice versa.”
