William Zepeda made it clear last Saturday that he is keeping his options open for his next fight, which may not be against WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson. After his win over Tevin Farmer, Zepeda pointed out that he was being “reported” by the champions, meaning Gervonta Davis.
(Credit: Golden Boy/Cris Esqueda)
Zepeda wants the big tuna
This is the big tuna tank and the one every fighter at 135 is eager to fight. He is the king of the division and the face of boxing in North America.
“I’m ready for whatever comes. Many of the champions want to fight me. It is very clear that the Shakur fight could probably be next. I’m just ready for whoever is next,” says William Zepeda about keeping his options open for his next fight.
While Zepeda cracked the Shakur code with his win over Farmer, it’s not worth much for him to fight the New Jersey native because he’s not popular enough. In addition, he will run for 12 rounds and try not to be overwhelmed with punches. He has a custom blitzkrieg approach to dominate Boer with volume.
Zepeda’s comment about “many” of the champions wanting to fight him suggests he doesn’t need Shakur, who brings nothing to the table other than his WBC belt, which he lost in a terrible performance last November against Edwin De Los Santos won. Shakur’s career hasn’t been the same since that fight because he was mocked.
While Shakur’s new promoter, Eddie Hearn of Zepeda (32-0, 27 KOs), has been talked about as the next opponent for February 22nd, the impressive victory by the No. 1 contender over Tevin Farmer gave him more options to one to fight of the more popular champions.
Financially, Tank The Better Option
WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis would be a better option for Zepeda financially, and the Baltimore native could look in his direction after his title defense against Lamont Roach on December 14th.
Tank will need a good opponent that will bring in the PPV buys, and Zepeda is the guy who can do that. Being Mexican, a fight between him and Tank Davis would produce excellent pay-per-view numbers. The money Zepeda could make fighting would likely be far more than he would get against Shakur, who has no fan base outside of his hometown of Newark, New Jersey.
This is a fight that would be more entertaining for the fans than Shakur is the option. He’s a runner, and he’s not about to let Zepeda step up his high-volume offense to throw over 1000+ hits as he did last Saturday night against Tevin Farmer in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Farmer With Sour Grapes
“He was good. I could see that the guys he fought before me, like all the C minus and D minus, I could see why he could stop those guys. He definitely has the output to stop those guys,” Tevin Farmer said Boxing King Mediatalking about William Zepeda.
“The guys that are just coming up that aren’t mentally strong, the guys that don’t have the experience, I could see how he stopped all those guys. I want to see how he does as he continues to move up because the tougher the opponents you get, the tougher it becomes to stop people,” Farmer said of Zepeda.
Farmer doesn’t name who he considers “tougher opponents” because there aren’t many in the lightweight division who can withstand Zepeda’s punches. I could see Zepeda beating these top fighters: Raymond Muratalla, Keyshawn Savis, Abdullah Mason, Denys Berinchyk, Edwin De Los Santos and Floyd Schofield.
“So, I could see him stopping a lot of guys from coming forward. I want to see how he does against other elites, whether he continues to stop them or not. I’m not going to tell me a rematch because I know it’s not happening. Golden Boy is not crazy. Most people thought I won. I’m not going to sit here and cry about it.”
