William Zepeda must rest for six to eight weeks to allow his injured left hand to heal before he can begin training. Lightweight contender Zepeda (32-0, 27 KOs) will not need surgery to repair the problem, which is positive news for him and his promoters at Golden Boy.
Hand injury delays title shot
Zepeda, 28, had planned to challenge Shakur Stevenson for his WBC lightweight title on the Riyadh season card on February 22. He was replaced by #14 WBC Floyd Schofield as Stevenson’s challenger for that event. Shakur is expected to win this battle. He and Zepeda will likely meet in mid-2025 for his WBC lightweight belt.
The undefeated #1 contender with all four sanctioning bodies at lightweight injured his left hand in his 10-round victory over former IBF super featherweight champion Tevin Farmer on November 16 in Riyadh.
Zepeda’s volume punching was too much for the 34-year-old Boer in their fight, and the match looked wilder than the tie scores the judges submitted. Zepeda.
‘Camaron’ Zepeda joined 90 body shots compared to 45 for Farmer, and he wore down the former IBF 130-lb champion in the final three rounds. Had it been a 12-round contest, many believe Zepeda would have knocked Farmer out.
The scores
– 95-94: Zepeda
– 95-94: Farmer
– 95-94: Zepeda
Farmer scored a quick Knockdown in round four, catching ‘Camaron’ with a left hand as he was throwing one of his hard punches. Zepeda got up and continued to dominate the rounds and make it look easy.
The body punch from Zepeda took a toll on Farmer in the second half, reducing his work rate and his power on his shots.
Zepeda-Boer Punch Statistics
– Boer: 194 of 587 for 32.9%
– Zepeda: 259 of 778 for 33.3%.
“William Zepeda will have to wait 6-8 weeks to return to the gym after the injury he suffered in his fight against Tevin Farmer. Surgery will not be necessary. Shakur Stevenson will defend against Floyd Schofield,” Salvador Rodriguez said X.
