Promoter Oscar De La Hoya is enthusiastic about his fighter William Zepeda challenging Shakur Stevenson for his WBC lightweight title if he prevails against Tevin Farmer in their showdown in 11 days on Latino Night on November 16 on DAZN. Zepeda-Farmer will fight a 10-rounder at The Venue in Riyadh.
(Credit: Golden Boy / Cris Esqueda)
Shakur spoke boldly about Zepeda and predicted victory, and his fans, many of whom sound like they’ve never seen the Mexican fighter in action, believe Stevenson will win easily.
If Zepeda demolishes Shakur Stevenson, it will devastate Eddie Hearn, who has talked about turning the Newark native into a “Global Superstar.” Hearn sounds so sure he’s going to turn Shakur into a massive superstar by next year; he doesn’t seem to have both feet on the ground with his expectations.
A victory for Zepeda over the Eddie Hearn-promoted Shakur would be an opportunity for De La Hoya to gloat about getting one on British promoter Hearn. De La Hoya recently targeted Hearn on his Clap Back Thursday posts to mock him about the bad year his fighters had in 2024.
Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs) and Farmer (33-6-1, 8 KOs) will fight Chris Billiam-Smith on the undercard of Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez. They will try to steal the show from the headliner fight between the two cruiserweight champions.
Oscar De La Hoya: “Eddie (Hearn) doesn’t have fighters for William Zepeda to face,” De La Hoya told DAZN Boxing.
Chris Mannix: “There is one guy. Shakur.”
De La Hoya: “He injured his hand.”
Mannix: “Shakur says, ‘When this hand injury is over, I’m going straight to William Zepeda.’
De La Hoya: “Okay, I’d love to.”
Mannix: “For Zepeda, it’s kind of a trap for him. Tevin Farmer really has nothing to lose. He lost his last fight.”
De La Hoya: “He can ruin the party, but I’m already on my mind, and Zepeda wants Shakur. This is the bottom line. There is a curse that Eddie has. He is 0-17 this year, I believe. I only speak the facts. I love working with promoters and making the best fights.
“Fortunately for us at Golden Boy, we have the opponents. The A side, the B side. So, we can do it all on our own and make a decision.”
