Shakur Stevenson and William Zepeda verbally agree on matchup
Jul 30, 2024 • 3:52 PM ET
Shakur Stevenson’s team grew tired of waiting for an offer from Gervonta Davis, so it is moving toward a fight that may have even more entertainment value.
Three-division and WBC lightweight champion Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) has verbally agreed to next fight the lightweight division’s consensus No. 1 contender, Mexico’s William Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs), and Zepeda has also tentatively agreed, according to a boxing official connected to the deal who is unauthorized to speak publicly on the matter because financial and other terms are yet to be finalized.
At this hour, the most likely date and venue for the bout is Oct. 12 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, under the main event of the undisputed light heavyweight championship fight between Russian unbeatens Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
Zepeda promoter Oscar De La Hoya and Saudi Arabia’s Turki Alalshikh hinted at the bout in a social media post released on Sunday. But a Golden Boy spokesman told BoxingScene on Tuesday that “nothing has been agreed to.”
Although De La Hoya previously discussed signing 2016 U.S. Olympic silver medalist Stevenson following the July 6 expiration of the fighter’s contract with Top Rank, Stevenson will not sign with De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, according to an official connected to Stevenson. Forcing such an agreement would be a violation of the Muhammad Ali Act, which stipulates such arrangements are coercive in nature.
Stevenson was hopeful his free agency would sway fellow three-division champion Davis to strike a deal, and a report of such a union filtered out on social media Tuesday. But Stevenson co-manager Josh Dubin told BoxingScene that after Stevenson’s other co-manager, James Prince, was asked by a Premier Boxing Champions official if Stevenson was interested in fighting Davis and was told yes, a promised return phone call to negotiate never happened. Dubin says they are now one week past the promised date of contact.
Thus, Stevenson has turned to Zepeda, who is coming off a third-round knockout of Giovanni Cabrera on July 6 in Ontario, California. The 28-year-old power-punching left-hander Zepeda is expected to give the defensively brilliant Stevenson a rugged test, while Stevenson’s superb hand and foot quickness will likely challenge Zepeda like no other opponent he has met yet.
Should the bout become reality, DAZN will stream the Oct. 12 Saudi Arabia card.
BoxingScene will have more on this as events occur.
Lance Pugmire has been a full-time boxing writer for nearly 20 years, serving now as BoxingScene’s U.S. Senior Writer and assistant producer for ProBoxTV’s “BoxingScene Today.” Pugmire capped a near 20-year career at the Los Angeles Times (sports investigations, NHL/MLB beat work, law enforcement/courts and boxing/UFC) to join The Athletic, and then USA Today. Pugmire’s stint at The Times started with the first Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez fight and the Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jnr then-record pay-per-view, leading through a slew of ringside assignments at major bouts, including Mayweather-Pacquiao, Mayweather-Canelo and the Canelo-Golovkin trilogy. Lance’s appreciation for boxing is rooted in his admiration and appreciation for the fighters, gladiators who have proven to be the most forthcoming and candid of all the athletes he has interviewed over a career dating to 1990. Lance was honored to be named the 2022 winner of the Boxing Writers Association of America Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence and he’s collected many BWAA writing awards in categories ranging from breaking news to deep-dive long features.
