William Zepeda made it clear last Saturday that he’s keeping his options open for his next fight, which might not be against WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson. After his win over Tevin Farmer, Zepeda pointed out that he’s being “mentioned” by the champions, meaning Gervonta Davis.
(Credit: Golden Boy/Cris Esqueda)
Zepeda Wants The Big Tuna
That’s the big tuna Tank and the one that every fighter at 135 is eager to fight. He’s the king of the division and the face of boxing in North America.
“I’m ready for whatever is coming. Many of the champions want to fight me. It’s very clear that the Shakur fight could probably be next. I’m just ready for whoever is next,” said William Zepeda about him keeping his options open for his next fight.
While Zepeda cracked the Shakur code with his win over Farmer, it’s not worth much for him to fight the New Jersey native because he’s not popular enough. Moreover, he’ll run for 12 rounds, trying not to be overwhelmed with punches. He used a blitzkrieg approach to dominate Farmer with volume.
Zepeda’s comment about “many” of the champions wanting to fight him indicates that he doesn’t need Shakur, who brings nothing to the table other than his WBC belt, which he won in a terrible performance against Edwin De Los Santos last November. Shakur’s career hasn’t been the same since that fight, as he’s been ridiculed.
While there’s been talk by Shakur’s new promoter, Eddie Hearn of Zepeda (32-0, 27 KOs), being the next opponent for February 22nd, the impressive victory by the #1 ranked contender over Tevin Farmer has given him more options to fight one of the more popular champions.
Financially, Tank The Better Option
WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis would be a better option financially for Zepeda, and the Baltimore native may look in his direction after his title defense against Lamont Roach on December 14th.
Tank will need a good opponent who will bring in the PPV buys, and Zepeda is the guy who can do that. Being Mexican, a fight between him and Tank Davis would do excellent pay-per-view numbers. The money that Zepeda can make fighting Tank would likely be a lot more than he’d get fighting Shakur, who has no fanbase outside of his hometown of Newark, New Jersey.
It’s a fight that would be more entertaining for the fans than Shakur being the option. He’s a runner, and he’s not about to let Zepeda crank up his high-volume offense to throw over 1000+ punches like he did against Tevin Farmer last Saturday night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Farmer With Sour Grapes
“He was good. I could see that the guys he was fighting before me, like all the C minus and D minus, I could see why he could stop those dudes. He definitely possesses the output to stop those dudes,” said Tevin Farmer to Boxing King Media, talking about William Zepeda.
“The dudes that are just coming up that aren’t mentally strong, the dudes that don’t have the experience, I could see how he stopped all those dudes. I want to see how he do when he keeps moving up because the tougher the opponents you get, the harder it gets to stop people,” said Farmer about Zepeda.
Farmer doesn’t mention who he views as “tougher opponents” because there are not many in the lightweight division that could stand up to Zepeda’s punches. I could see Zepeda beating these top fighters: Raymond Muratalla, Keyshawn Savis, Abdullah Mason, Denys Berinchyk, Edwin De Los Santos, and Floyd Schofield.
“So, I could see how he stops a lot of dudes coming up. I want to see how he does against other elites, whether he continues stopping them or not. I’m not going to say a rematch for me because I know that’s not happening. Golden Boy isn’t crazy. Most people thought I won. I’m not going to sit here and cry about it.”