Highly ranked #1 contender William Zepeda (32-0, 27 KOs) is leaving his options open for which champion at lightweight that he faces next after beating veteran Tevin Farmer (33-7-1, 8 KOs) by a ten-round split decision to win the WBC interim 135-lb title last Saturday at the Latino Night event at The Venue in Riyadh.
(Credit: Golden Boy/Cris Esqueda)
Zepeda, 28, said he’s being mentioned by the champions at 135 by name, but WBC belt-holder Shakur Stevenson is “probably” the next one for him. If they fight, it’ll be on February 22nd in Riyadh.
Zepeda feels confident that he’ll defeat Shakur after his win over Farmer, who he says has a “similar” style. What we saw from Farmer was more aggressive than Shakur, who would NEVER stand in the pocket and trade with a volume puncher like Zepeda.
Farmer’s did have a brief bit of success, knocking Zepeda down with a left hand in round four. He caught the volume-puncher Zepeda with a shot he didn’t see coming while throwing. Zepeda threw over 1000+ punches in the fight and connected on 48%, many of them to the body. The judges focused on just headshots, ignoring the withering body punching that Zepeda did.
That’s the problem that fighters who throw a lot of shots have. They sometimes run into something, but in this case, it didn’t slow Zepeda down. He kept throwing shots and overwhelmed Farmer.
The scores
95-94 Zepeda
95-94 Farmer
95-94 Zepeda
“I got caught with one punch, and after that, I recovered well and kept working with my team. It was great,” said William Zepeda to Boxing King Media following his win over Tevin Farmer last Saturday night. “Farmer was good, but it was my night tonight.
“I’m ready for what’s coming. Many of the champions have mentioned my name, but it’s very clear that Shakur Stevenson, that fight could probably be next. I’m going to be ready for whatever is next. I’m going to keep improving myself and get ready for what is coming,” said Zepeda.
If Zepeda can get a fight against WBO lightweight champion Denys Berinchyk or WBA champ Gervonta Davis, either of those options might be more interesting for fans than a match involving Shakur. It would be more exciting to see Zepeda fight Tank or Berinchyk because they come to fight and wouldn’t be running around the ring the way Shakur does.
“Shakur Stevenson and Devin Farmer are very similar fighters. They have the same way of fighting. As you saw tonight, I will come with everything that I have, and I will bring my best. That’ll be a great fight,” said Zepeda.
