Since Shakur Stevenson was stripped in early February, the WBC lightweight world title has remained vacant.
Stevenson won the belt in November 2023 by beating Edwin De Los Santos. He defended it against Artem Harutyunyan, Josh Padley and William Zepeda before moving up to super-lightweight to challenge for Teofimo Lopez’s WBO strap.
Though he expressed interest in keeping his belt and returning to 135lbs, WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman said that Stevenson’s team did not follow the correct protocol and failed to pay a sanctioning fee. The title was declared vacant shortly after the 28-year-old beat Lopez
Despite having an interim champion in Jadier Herrera, the sanctioning body has opted to order a fight between number one and two contenders, Lamont Roach Jr and William Zepeda, for the full title.
In its latest divisional round-up, the WBC has confirmed that the fight is being targeted for June. It is expected to land on a Golden Boy Promotions card, and the winner will be ordered to face Herrera next.
Zepeda’s second crack at the belt, after giving Stevenson what he regards as the trickiest match-up of his campaign, comes against a man who many feel should already be champion in the division.
Roach faced Gervonta Davis for the WBA belt at 135 last year, fighting to a draw which many felt was unfair on the challenger, particularly since ‘Tank’ Davis took a knee mid-fight and was not deducted a point.
The match-up is an intriguing prospect, with Mexico’s Zepeda being one of the sport’s most prolific volume punchers against a slick and smart operator in Roach. Provided there are no obstacles, an official announcement won’t be far in the future. Roach, speaking on X, has teased something ‘coming soon.’
