Shakur Stevenson smiles throughout a press convention earlier than his July 6 battle in Newark, New Jersey. Picture by Mikey Williams/High Rank
William Zepeda is again in Shakur Stevenson’s sights.
The Ring has confirmed that the WBC has ordered the 2 sides to enter talks for a compulsory title battle. Stevenson (22-0, 10 knockouts) at present holds the WBC 135-pound belt. Mexico’s Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs) is the number-one ranked contender amongst all 4 sanctioning our bodies.
A deal should be reached inside the subsequent 30 days to keep away from a handbag bid listening to. As is customary by the WBC, a handbag bid date—August 20—was already reserved within the occasion the session is critical.
Stevenson, The Ring’s No. 4-rated light-weight, is guided by supervisor James Prince and in-house promoter Antonio Leonard. He was beforehand co-promoted by High Rank; their deal expired after his July 6 factors win over Artem Haruyunyan (12-2, 7 KOs) in Newark, New Jersey. Zepeda, No. 3 at 135, is with Golden Boy Promotions and supervisor Jaime Picos.
Oscar De La Hoya, Zepeda’s Corridor of Fame promoter, flaunted his fighter’s rankings standing earlier than and after his most up-to-date win. Zepeda additionally fought on July 6 and earned a third-round knockout of Giovanni Cabrera in Las Vegas.
A lot was fabricated from his want to face any and all comers. Nonetheless, the clearly said goal was WBO titlist Denys Berinchyk (19-0, 9 KOs), No. 5 at 135. De La Hoya’s imaginative and prescient was for Zepeda to first face the unbeaten Ukrainian later this 12 months. From there, the following goal could be a unification bout versus Stevenson.
These plans are clearly on maintain till a deal may be reached to fulfill all events. Stevenson and Zepeda can not decide to every other battle as soon as the clock begins for a sanctioning body-ordered battle. Zepeda would threat his placement within the WBC rankings ought to his facet decline to maneuver ahead.
Stevenson turned a three-division titlist with a vacant title win over Edwin De Los Santos (16-2, 14 KOs) final Nov. 11 in Las Vegas. The 2016 Olympic Silver medalist beforehand gained belts at 126 and 135.
This very matchup was beforehand explored by the WBC, solely as a title eliminator. Golden Boy instantly rejected the concept of the battle, given the modest stakes. Stevenson went on to face unbeaten Shuichiro Yoshino (16-0, on the time), whom he stopped within the sixth spherical final April 8.
