Bernie Davis Sees Same William Zepeda Shakur Already Beat

Zepeda defeated Roach by unanimous decision earlier this month to capture the vacant WBC lightweight title.

Bernie expected that pace to present problems. He felt Roach needed to counter between combinations and use his jab to slow down the Mexican pressure fighter. Roach never found a consistent answer.

Davis gave Zepeda credit for taking difficult fights, particularly after facing Stevenson and then Roach. But when asked if the performance earned Zepeda another shot at Shakur, his answer was immediate.

“No, cause Zepeda didn’t do nothing. Hell no. Leave Shakur Stevenson alone,” Davis told MillCity Boxing. “Shakur beat him up, man. Nasty. Shakur beat him up, bro. Come on.”

The praise Zepeda received for his performance against Roach didn’t impress Bernie.

“He looked the exact same. They talking about he looking great. He doing this. He looked the exact same,” said Davis about Zepeda. “He don’t even be aiming his punches. He just be throwing punches. He don’t have no method to his punches. He just throws them punches.”

Shakur defeated Zepeda by unanimous decision in a competitive lightweight fight. Zepeda had considerable success during the first half before Stevenson took greater control later.

That makes Bernie’s description of Shakur having “beat him up” considerably stronger than the way many viewers saw their first fight. Zepeda pushed Stevenson for long stretches and made the fight competitive on the scorecards.

Davis has seen Shakur up close in Crawford’s camp, so his confidence in him isn’t surprising. The Roach victory may have put Zepeda back on top at lightweight, but Bernie sees nothing that warrants giving him another chance against Stevenson.