Promoter Eddie Hearn says William Zepeda will “cheat” Shakur Stevenson in early 2025 rather than take that fight. He doesn’t say why he thinks Zepeda can do that because he has struggled, going up to throw Shakur the WBC lightweight title.
Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs) isn’t the type to fool anyone, considering he’s been calling out Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) since the New Jersey native won the WBC 135-lb belt last November.
It will be a huge blow to Hearn if Zepeda pulls Shakur out because he signed him to an expensive two-fight deal with Matchroom in preparation for a big fight with Gervonta Davis in 2025.
What Hearn should do is match Shakur with a weaker 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 has been talking about turning Shakur into a “world star” in a short amount of time, leading some fans to wonder if he’s ever seen him wrestle before. If Hearn had watched Shakur fight, he would have known he was a dead heavyweight and not someone who could beat Zepeda, Tank David, Abdullah Mason, or Vasily Lomachenko.
Shakur has yet to show the ability to be a star of any kind. Right now, he’s just a guy who won the WBC title in a fight that was unstoppable against Edwin De Los Santos last year. He has fought just once since then, a hard fought 12-round decision against the light-hitting Artem Harutyunyan, who had lost to Frank Martin.
Zepeda’s promoter, Golden Boy’s Oscar De La Hoya, wants Stevenson and sees him as unable to beat the Mexican singer. The 28-year-old Zepeda is ranked #1 by the IBF, WBA, WBC, and WBO at lightweight.
Next month, Zepeda will face former IBF super featherweight champion Tevin Farmer (33-6-1, 8 KOs) as his opponent on the November 16th “Latino Night” at The Venue in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“In my opinion, Zepeda will cheat Shakur,” said Eddie Hearn to Fight Hub TV, predicting that William Zepeda will steal a shot against WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson in early 2025.
Hearn may end up wishing that Zepeda ducked Shakur, as this fight could go badly for the WBC 135-lb champion. Shakur didn’t beat Edwin De Los Santos last November, forcing him to go all night in a fight that could have gone either way. Zepeda is much better at crossing the ring than De Los Santos, and will be attacking all night.
In Shakur’s last fight against Artem Harutyunyan, we saw that he doesn’t have the offensive ability to stand up to his opponents at lightweight and he is forced to leave. Shakur won’t last much longer than Giovanni Cabrera, Maxi Hughes, and Mercito Gesta if he stands up against Zepeda.
“Listen, it’s his best shot right now. Shakur is out of a manual job, and will go right back to the fight. Zepeda got a warm-up fight against Tevin Farmer [on November 16th]. It’s a great style to prepare for Shakur. I don’t think Oscar [De La Hoya] you will do it. It’s going to hurt him very badly,” said Hearn.
I hope Hearn doesn’t look to Zepeda in the Shakur fight because that’s not going to happen. Why would Zepeda fight Shakur and miss out on his fastest way to a world title?
It’s not like Gervonta will give Zepeda a chance to fight for his belt or IBF champion Lomachenko. If Zepeda does not take advantage of this opportunity to fight for the belt against Shakur, it may take years for him to get another chance.
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