Shakur Stevenson is trying to sound mysterious, saying that fans and the media don’t know what style he will use in his July 12th fight against William Zepeda. WBC lightweight champion Stevenson (23-0, 11 KOs) claims that no one knows if he will stand in the pocket, slug, or move.
Exposing Shakur’s Limits
However, the Newark, New Jersey native, Shakur has already shown how he fights, and he’s very limited with his options since moving up to the 135-lb division in 2023. He’s a runner when fighting strong opposition. Otherwise, he’ll stand in the pocket if they’re weak, like his last opponent, the electrician, Josh Padley.
“You don’t know if I’m going to box. You don’t know if I’m going to stand in the pocket. He’s going to be clueless about my game plan, but I’m very aware of his game plan,” said Shakur Stevenson to Ring Magazine about William Zepeda when they battle on July 12th. “I can’t give you the game plan. Tevin Farmer is a tough fighter. You saw him with Raymond Muratalla, and Muratalla is actually a good fighter, too.”
We do know that Shakur won’t stand in the pocket against Zepeda for any length of time, because his past fights against punchers have shown that he will only briefly be in proximity of being hit. 90% of the time, Stevenson is using his hit-and-run style. When he can’t escape, he’ll grab and hold to neutralize their offense. We’ll see a lot of that in the Zepeda fight, because he’ll follow the blueprint that Farmer used to go the distance in their two contests.
“You can’t really judge him [Zepeda] off Tevin Farmer, and say, ‘Oh, he’s not that good because he had a tough time with Tevin Farmer.’ He’s slick, with, and looked like he was in tremendous shape for the fight. So, you got to give him that much credit. As far as the game plan, I can’t tell you. I’ll show you on fight night that I’m the better fighter, and everybody will see.”
Farmer took a lot of punishment in both fights against Zepeda, and that’s the only thing that prevented him from being stopped. Even with Farmer running, he still took a lot of heavy shots in those two clashes. The only things that saved Tevin from being knocked out were the constant holding, movement, size, and his ability to absorb punishment.
“He [Zepeda] just imposed his will a little bit earlier. He didn’t wait the first few rounds. He started in one, two, three, and that’s the only difference that I seen. There’s no difference with the way Zepeda fights. He’s going to come the same way his entire career. Honestly, it’s hard to deal with [the pressure] for a lot of people, but July 12th won’t be that.”
Stevenson is projecting when he says there’s “no difference with the way” William fights. He has the same problem. Shakur always fights the same way, using the hit and the three-to-six-step pullback. The only times he stood in the pocket against the light-hitting Josh Padley and the scrubs he fought earlier in his career at 126 and 130.
“Yeah, for sure. He’s got all the abilities and the will and the heart to be one of that,” said Shakur when asked of Zepeda could be one of his toughest fights, but July 12th, we’ll see. It can be. I don’t know.”
Will Shakur Stand His Ground?
It’s going to be a harder fight than Stevenson wants to admit. He’s not capable physically of standing in the pocket with Zepeda. He doesn’t possess the power, punch volume, or healthy enough hands to exchange with the Mexican brawler. The only thing Shakur can do is fight the way he’s always done, using his amateur single-punch point scoring style.
That means landing a shot and then retreating three to six steps. In other words, the punch and run style. That’s what Shakur did in the 2016 Olympics, and that’s why he lost to Cuba’s Robeisy Ramirez. The judges saw the Cuban attacking him the entire fight, and they gave it to him. Shakur was hitting, holding, wrestling, and running. Afterwards, Stevenson didn’t understand why he lost, but it was so obvious. He showed that he’s not self-aware. He hasn’t changed. Stevenson still thinks he can walk on water, so he could lose on July 12th to Zepeda.
