There is speculation that WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson will defend against William Zepeda on February 22 in what promoter Eddie Hearn says will be the “best card yet for the Riyadh season”. The Shakur-Zepeda fight has yet to be confirmed for this event, but it is believed that is when it will happen.
Shakur is coming off hand surgery, which canceled his Matchroom debut against Joe Cordina for October 12th. Here’s hoping Shakur doesn’t have a setback when he starts training for the Zepeda fight. His hands may be too brittle to stay healthy as he has had the same problems in the recent past.
Hearn recently signed Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) to a two-fight deal with Matchroom Boxing, and this will be the first fight. The British promoter is hoping to land 2016 Olympic silver medalist Shakur in a “global superstar,” his vision is to defeat Zepeda in February and then Gervonta Davis mid-year in 2025.
Hearn doesn’t understand why Shakur isn’t already a superstar, and he believes he will make it happen quickly with his guidance. Hearn doesn’t understand that American fans want to be entertained and don’t enjoy watching fighters who don’t engage. That’s Shakur’s style. He is a non-fiancé.
Golden Boy Promoted #1 ranked Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs) will next month fight Tevin Farmer (33-6-1, 8 KOs) in a 10-round bout on November 16th at His Excellency Turki Alalshikh’s Latino Night at The Venue in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Farmer has a Shakur style to his game that will help prepare the pressure fighter Zepeda for the movement he will see next February.
“I think February 22nd is the best card yet for the Riyadh season,” promoter Eddie Hearn told His Excellency Turki Alalshikh. X.
“I hope so,” Turki said.
If Stevenson vs. Zepeda fighting on this card will be a great one for the fans and reveal if Shakur is the real deal or just a fake like many fans believe he is. Zepeda can cut off the ring on the highly mobile Shakur, track him down and drop him in this fight.
Zepeda could ruin Hearn’s dreams of a Shakur-Tank fight, knocking out Shakur on Feb. 22 and wiping out any chance of the Newark native fighting Gervonta Davis.
Shakur was nearly knocked out in his fight against Edwin De Los Santos last November and was forced to move endlessly for 12 rounds to avoid the powerful punches.
The judges gave Shakur a decision, but it was a fight he did so little that it should have gone the other way. De Los Santos landed the harder punches and was the aggressor throughout. Shakur blamed his poor performance on being injured, but he fought the same way in many of his other fights in the pros and amateurs.
Shakur has been seeking a fight against Tank Davis since turning pro in 2017, but his performances have been too lackluster for him to garner enough fan interest to create any fan push for a fight between them. Shakur’s fans want to see a fight between him and Tank, but there aren’t enough of them to force the match.
