Undefeated #1 Lightweight Contender William Zepeda will get his warm-up fight against Tevin Farmer in 17 Days on November 16th at Latino Night at The Venue in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It is a dry run for the talented Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs) before facing the real thing, WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevensonon February 22.
Farmer (33-6-1, 8 KOs) has a style similar to Shakur, but isn’t quite as timid to run around the ring at the first hint of danger. Former IBF super featherweight champion Farmer is more willing to stand in the pocket and throw punches than Shakur, who has no heart for the one-on-one pocket fight in which Zepeda specializes.
Can farmer hold off Zepeda?
Tevin Farmer’s three-fight winning streak was snapped in his last fight, losing to top-ranked Raymond Muratalla via a close ten-round unanimous decision on July 13. Farmer exposed the undefeated Muratalla in this match, making him look beaten with his boxing skills.
It’s going to be a different story when Farmer gets in Zepeda though, as he’s a very different kind of fighter with an inside game, power and a high work rate that makes him impossible to stop. He is the perfect fighter to defeat a pure boxer like Farmer and Shakur.
Zepeda has looked outstanding of late, knocking out Giovanni Cabrera, Maxi Hughes and Mercito Gesta early in those fights. What was impressive about those matches was how Zepeda started slowly and then came on like a train in the latter half of the second round.
Once Zepeda ramps up his offense, he is unstoppable, and his opponents fight for survival. That’s what we’re likely to see from the 34-year-old Boer, who has never fought like this in his 13-year professional career.
Fighting a guy like Zepeda at this late stage is going to be a big problem for Farmer because he won’t be able to run. The Mexican talent is excellent at cutting off the ring on his prey.
Farmer said Zepeda won’t make it to the Shakur fight because he plans to beat him on Nov. 16, but that sounds like wishful thinking. Zepeda will be like glue sticking to him on the inside, throwing to the body and making life difficult for him.
Fans are looking forward to seeing Zepeda face Shakur as the match is shown on PPV and has a lot of attention.
This will be Shakur’s first fight of his two-fight contract with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing, and he is set for a unification bout against Gervonta Davis in mid-2025. Shakur doesn’t have the offense or interior to fight Zepeda.
So he will use the same hit-and-kick style in his questionable 12-round win over Edwin De Los Santos last November.
Shakur ran from De Los Santos and landed next to nothing, and the judge kept giving him rounds. We will likely see the same approach from Shakur against Zepeda, but it will be more extreme because the Mexican star’s offensive skills and work rate are better than De Los Santos’.
