Shakur vs. Zepeda: Tim Bradley Gives His Expert Prediction

Tim Bradley wants Shakur Stevenson to stand his ground and fight William Zepeda in the pocket on DAZN PPV on Saturday, July 12th, to show that he’s got the courage to beat him at his own game at the Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York.

Tim wants Stevenson to show his bravery by trading with Zepeda (33-0, 27 KOs). However, if he does that, he’ll be putting his fragile hands at risk of another injury. He’s not going to beat a punching machine like Zepeda with just one hand, and he can’t run his way to a controversial victory like he did against Edwin De Los Santos. The judges won’t bail him out a second time.

Bradley’s Zepeda “Massacre” Prediction

Tim Bradley believes that WBC lightweight champion Shakur (23-0, 11 KOs) is going to “massacre’ and possibly score a “stoppage” of Zepeda.

Tim predicts that Stevenson will beat Zepeda (33-0, 27 KOs) just as badly as he did former WBO super featherweight champion Jamel Herring in 2021. He sees Shakur being able to do the same thing to Zepeda as he did against the 35-year-old Herring. I don’t see it happening, but I’ve seen the fight. Herring is nothing like Zepeda.

“Shakur is going to fight his way out [of the corner]. He’s going to show us something we’ve been waiting to see since the [Jamel] Herring fight [in 2021],” said Tim Bradley on his channel, talking about the Shakur Stevenson vs. William Zepeda fight on Saturday. “He beat the brakes on Herron. That was one of his best performances.”

Why Zepeda Beats Shakur

• Nonstop pressure
• High Volume output
• Superior power
• Shakur’s glass hands
• To force a war

Jamel Herring was an old fossil, slender and weak by the time Shakur fought him. In contrast, Zepeda is younger, bigger, stronger, and throws nonstop punches. He’s an entirely different fighter. What then 24-year-old Shakur Stevenson did to Herring in 2021, he couldn’t do that against Zepeda due to the shots being thrown back at him.

Stevenson is now 28, less muscular than he was at 24, and fighting in the lightweight division, where his power hasn’t carried up from super featherweight.

“I think we might see something like that for Shakur in this fight. I’m telling you that if his hands are healthy, it’s going to be a massacre, a landslide victory. It might be a stoppage. Zepeda fights one way. He comes forward, that’s it. I’ll tell you what I like about him. He will attack that body.”

Shakur Must Fight In-Pocket

Scoring a stoppage of Zepeda is virtually impossible for Stevenson because to sit down on his shots to land a hard enough punch; he’ll need to be stationary. He can’t do that against a body puncher like Zepeda. It’s in Shakur’s best interest to stand in the pocket and go to war with Zepeda because that’s what Turki Alalshikh wants.

If Stevenson wants to ingratiate himself with Turki to get on his good side so he’ll line him up with that Gervonta Davis fight he’s been pining away for, he needs to fight Zepeda in the pocket and go down swinging if need be. Even if Stevenson gets blasted into rubble, he’ll look heroic, and Turki might take pity on him for being a brave soldier.

“There are going to be moments where Shakur is going to have to step in, smother, and work, kind of like what Farmer did. Farmer had success when he pushed Zepeda back. Shakur needs to stay close and push this man back in spots. He needs the courage to say, ‘I’m going to stand, back you up, and I’m going to be skillful in front of you. You’re not going to hit me. I’m going to hit you,’” said Bradley.

Turki Alalshikh’s Fight Demands

The reality is Shakur can’t stand in front of Zepeda and avoid getting hit. He’s a body puncher, and Shakur’s head movement won’t work to dodge those shots. If he’s going to pull back and retreat all night, that’s going to lead to a Tom and Jerry situation.

That’s what Turki Alalshikh doesn’t want. We’ve all seen Shakur fight before, and he always retreats when attacked if he’s fighting someone with power. He stood in the pocket against Jamel Herring, Josh Padley, and Artem Harutyunyan because they had no punching power. Zepeda does.