Can Zepeda Force Stevenson to be Exciting?

William Zepeda is expected to apply nonstop pressure on WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson on July 12th in their fight in Queens, New York. Stevenson (23-0, 11 KOs) is known to fans and the media as an overly defensive fighter, employing a punch-and-run approach to win fights.

It’s going to be on Zepeda to extract an exciting fight out of Stevenson by lighting a fire under his backside all night. If Shakur can’t be entertaining in this contest, it’s impossible. You’d have to give up on the Newark, New Jersey native and view him as a lost cause. The running style that Stevenson has is so well ingrained in him that even Zepeda won’t be able to make him look exciting.

Small Ring Won’t Stop Shakur Escaping

The fight will be conducted in a small 18 x 18 ft ring, which will make it difficult for Stevenson to run to escape Zepeda all night like he did in his past fights. However, even in the smaller ring, there will still be enough room for Shakur to avoid the Mexican volume puncher. We’ve all seen the meme of Stevenson jumping to escape the pressure Edwin De Los Santos was putting on him in their fight in 2023.

Shakur is coming into this fight with a lot of pressure on him to be entertaining and not run like he normally does after Turki Alalshikh issued his directive that he didn’t want any more runners on his Riyadh Season events. He’s the one paying fighters like Stevenson millions to perform. So, it’s understandable why he would insist on guys like him to make it exciting.

If Shakur still chooses to make the Zepeda fight into a track meet by avoiding engagement, he’ll be booed out of the Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens. He will have been ignoring Turki’s directive to avoid “Tom and Jerry” fights, showing defiance of him and further ruining what’s left of his diminished brand.

Turki to 86 Shakur Forever?

If you’re Turki, it would be a good time to 86 Shakur, putting him on the unwelcome list for future Riyadh Season events.

Shakur’s Best Career Wins

– Edwin De Los Santos
– Jamel Herring: 35 years old
– Joet Gonzalez
– Oscar Valdez: After he was washed up
– Jeremia Nakathila
– Robson Conceicao
– Artur Harutyunyan: Coming off a loss to Frank Martin