Shakur Stevenson says he doesn’t want a tuneup to arrange for his battle towards William Zepeda in February. Stevenson assumes he gained’t get injured once more with one other hand ailment that might wreck his plans and trigger additional delay.
It’s not a lot the time that WBC light-weight champion Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) can have been out of the ring however somewhat the dearth of preparation on his half to get him prepared for a man like Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs).
Shakur seemed unhealthy with the strain he obtained in his battle towards Edwin De Los Santos final November. Towards that huge puncher, Stevenson was stressing out after getting hit with some monstrous photographs early on.
The 2016 Olympic silver medalist Shakur utterly deserted making an attempt to battle De Los Santos and was operating across the across the ring, ignoring the boos. Shakur landed solely occasional jabs, however nothing else in addition to that.
The judges gave Shakur, the A-side fighter, the win, however he didn’t seem like he’d finished sufficient. After the battle, Shakur blamed his efficiency on a hand harm. Few followers purchased into that excuse, noting how scared-looking Shakur appeared after being tagged arduous by De Los Santos in rounds one and two. Stevenson didn’t need to get knocked out, so he took off operating.
De Los Santos is nowhere close to nearly as good a strain fighter as William Zepeda and doesn’t goal the physique the way in which he does. He additionally lacks the punchput that Zepeda possesses. Shakur has many extra issues towards Zepeda than with De Los Santos.
The Mexican fighter is the sort of strain fighter that Shakur has by no means seen within the professional ranks and a pure nightmare for a lightweight hitter like him. Zepeda destroyed a Shakur-like fighter in Giovanni Cabrera, knocking him out within the third spherical on July sixth.
Cabrera tried all the identical methods as Shakur, utilizing the three-step pull-back model and operating across the ring, however he wasn’t efficient towards Zepeda. He repeatedly lower off the ring on Cabrera and compelled him into an inside sport, chopping him aside. What was fascinating about that battle was how Zepeda began slowly within the first two rounds, throwing solely 50+ punches per spherical.
By the third spherical, Zepeda was throwing nonstop photographs in a machine-gun style and was an excessive amount of for Cabrera, who went down in a heap after getting caught with a physique shot and was counted out.
If Shakur loses this battle, his profession goes to be precisely the place Devin Haney’s is now after his latest defeat towards Ryan Garcia. Stevenson can neglect about his goals of a battle towards Gervonta Davis.
His promoter, Eddie Hearn, might want to resolve what to do with Skakur within the remaining battle on his two-fight contract. Hearn might select to throw Skakur to the wolves by feeding him to 2020 Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz and watching him end off his profession.
It might be pointless for Hearn to waste the remaining battle of Shakur’s contract by matching him towards a smooth contact if he plans on washing his palms of him.
Yeah gotta notice I do know what I’m able to, I don’t want tune ups I been doing this my entire life I’m ceaselessly within the gymnasium, February gone be a film 🦾 https://t.co/cv2zx0AO4x
— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) September 25, 2024
