Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya has invited WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson to call him so they can start preparing for a fight against #1 William Zepeda.
(Credit: Golden Boy Promotions/ Cris Esqueda)
De La Hoya’s Open Invitation
Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs) made quick work of his opponent last Saturday night, stopping Giovanni Cabrera (22-2, 7 KOs) in the third round with a body shot in the main event on DAZN at the Toyota Center in Ontario, California.
With that win behind Zepeda, De La Hoya wants him to fight for a world title next against Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) or WBO lightweight champion Denys Berinchyk later this year. De La Hoya feels the fight with Berinchyk (19-0, 9 KOs) will be easier, but he’s open to negotiating with Shakur.
Shakur’s Potential Vulnerability
Shakur’s problems with Artem Harutyunyan last Saturday night highlighted his issues with his accepting De La Hoya’s offer to face Zepeda, who is like a punching machine once he cranks up his offense.
Stevenson has little offensive ability, and that’s been a problem since his amateur days. He’s excellent at defending against punches, but he has very little offensive capabilities beyond landing pecking shots to try and win rounds in an amateur point-scoring way.
In the Cabrera fight, Zepeda started slow, throwing a few punches in rounds one and two. However, in the third, Zepeda came out looking like another person, throwing an avalanche of punches that Cabrera had no hopes of blocking or matching.
Shakur couldn’t deal with a fighter like Zepeda, and his movement wouldn’t work because William’s body punching would slow his ability to move.
De La Hoya’s Confidence in Zepeda
“He made a statement. That’s the bottom line,” Oscar De La Hoya told the media about William Zepeda’s win over Giovanni Cabrera last Saturday. “When you’re in that position. When you’re the #1 contender in every organization, you have to make a statement like that, and that’s exactly what he did.
“He’s [Cabrera] very awkward as we saw with [Isaac] Pitbull [Cruz] where he took him the distance. I think this win for Zepeda was excellent and now we go for the world title.
“Shakur, give me a call. I would love to make a call with you,” said De La Hoya about his interest in setting up a fight between WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson and William Zepeda.
“He made a statement. When you’re the #1 contender in every organization, you have to make a statement like that, and that’s exactly what he did,” said De La Hoya about Zepeda’s third-round body shot knockout win over Cabrera.
