BREAKING: De La Hoya Declares William Zepeda vs. Shakur Stevenson “On”

Oscar De La Hoya has revealed that William Zepeda vs. Shakur Stevenson is “on.” The Zepeda-Shakur fight will take place on July 12th in New York City, which favors the New Jersey native Shakur. This is a Ring Magazine card.

It hasn’t been confirmed yet if Shakur’s fight with challenger Zepeda will be the main event. If it’s buried on the undercard, it would be surprising. There’s too much interest in this fight for it to be placed below the headliner spot.

Earlier today, Golden Boy promoter De La Hoya had told the media during the Ryan Garcia workout that he was “finalizing” the fight between Zepeda (33-0, 27 KOs) and WBC lightweight champion Stevenson (23-0, 11 KOs).

On Wednesday night, Shakur posted a groveling apology to Turki Alalshikh on X, trying to patch things up between them after he’d said some things about him in response to his purse being lowered for the Zepeda fight.

Fight Confirmed

It’s unclear whether Turki played a role in arranging the Zepeda vs. Shakur fight. If so, he would be the one who would choose where and when the fight would be staged.

Shakur, 27, is getting his wish, as the fight against Zepeda is now a done deal. He believes he’s 100% going to defeat Zepeda, which will open the door for him to secure a lucrative fight against Gervonta Davis. Shakur’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, shares the same belief. There are several problems with this dream vision that they have.

1. Victory for Zepeda
2. Boring decision by Shakur
3. Gervonta retiring

Zepeda has had extensive experience fighting runners in his last three fights. So, Shakur’s style of fighting won’t be new to him, as he’s already successfully cracked the code twice against Tevin Farmer. That guy is a stronger, more rugged, and entertaining version of Shakur.

“We’re back on track in finalizing a William Zepeda-Shakur deal. Look, it’s a fight that we all want to see,” said Oscar De La Hoya to Fight Hub TV earlier today, giving an update on the negotiations between WBC interim lightweight champion William Zepeda and WBC 135-lb champion Shakur Stevenson.

“It’s a fight that the boxing world has been talking about, and Shakur has been talking about it. Obviously, William wants the fight. So, that’s what’s going to happen.”