Promoter Oscar De La Hoya is picking William Zepeda to beat WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson, possibly by stoppage on Saturday, July 12th, in Queens, New York. De La Hoya believes that Zepeda’s high punch output, pressure, and stamina will be too much for Shakur (23-0, 11 KOs).
“When you see a fighter that trains so hard, and has the punching ability and the IQ, undefeated record,” said Oscar De La Hoya to Matchroom Boxing, talking about William Zepeda in his fight against Shakur Stevenson.
Oscar backs Zepeda stoppage
“I’m picking Zepeda to defeat Shakur. He could even win by stoppage,” said De La Hoya.
If Zepeda can trap Shakur against the ropes, hit him to the top, and take away his movement, he can win. It’s not going to be easy. Also, Stevenson holds when his opponents trap him. Zepeda will have to fight through that in the same way that Edwin De Los Santos did when Shakur held him. If William can handle the running and clinching, he’s got an excellent chance of winning.
“Conditioning is not going to be an issue. Punch output isn’t going to be an issue, but closing that distance is going to be the problem,” said Sergio Mora about Zepeda. “Shakur has that Cheetah-like defense. He bounces back.”
Shakur’s footwork: Eluding punchers
Shakur doesn’t just bounce back. He moves around the ring when he’s being chased by punchers. He’s only fought two in his career, De Los Santos and Jeremia Nakathila. Stevenson was on the move throughout those fights, making it difficult for those guys to hit him. It was pure Jerry-type fighting, and so incredibly boring to watch.
“He has the faster feet. He has the faster hands. Zepeda throws over 1000 punches per fight, but it he going to be able to get to this cat-like champion? That’s going to be the issue,” said Mora about Stevenson.
I wouldn’t say that Shakur has faster hand speed than Zepeda, as they’re both equal. If you watch Stevenson’s fights, he doesn’t possess blazing hand speed. He’s quite a bit slower than other lightweights, like Andy Cruz and Floyd Schofield. Those guys are faster. Stevenson is accurate and great at moving away after he lands single shots. It’s one punch at a time with Shakur. The reason for that is he doesn’t want to get hit.