Shakur Stevenson Vs. William Zepeda Preview

WBC Lightweight Champion Shakur Stevenson puts his belt on the line against his mandatory William Zepeda on July 12, as we preview this upcoming fight. 

Stevenson secured the vacant belt by beating Edwin De Los Santos via a unanimous decision in 2023. Since then, he has made two defenses of the belt, beating Artem Harutyunyan and Josh Padley via unanimous decisions. Shakur has been dealing with hand issues, which he came back from when he beat Padley. However, with questions over his knockout power, will Shakur be able to deal with a KO artist like Zepeda? The latter is 31-0, with 27 stoppages to his name. Zepeda enters the fight with a win against Tevin Farmer, making him the leading contender in the division. 

Pre-Fight

“This fight means everything. Zepeda is a hell of a fighter. He is going to bring the best out of me. The fans are going to see the greatest version of me. Zepeda has 27 knockouts, I have eleven knockouts… [but] I punch harder than him, and I think on fight night that will be the biggest difference between me and him.

“It’s a chip on my shoulder. A lot of people have been saying that I’m not the guy, I’m not as good as everybody says, and I’m overrated. I’ve heard a whole bunch of stuff, and now everybody has to stand by what they said. They are going to see come July 12th that I am the best fighter in the sport of boxing,” Shakur said 

“That’s something people know me as. I’m very calm. Inside the ring, I convert into an animal. I like to exchange. I love to fight. I know it’s hard to be a fighter who throws a lot of punches. I know it’s difficult to beat me,” Zepeda stated

Full Card

Shakur Stevenson vs William Zepeda; Lightweight, for the WBC title

Edgar Berlanga vs Hamzah Sheeraz; Super middleweight

Alberto Puello vs Subriel Matias; Super lightweight, for the WBC title

David Morrell vs Imam Khataev; Light heavyweight