In a career-best performance, Shakur Stevenson, 135 lbs., the pride of Newark, NJ, impressively defended his WBC lightweight world title for the third time against rugged Mexican pressure fighter William Zepeda, 134.6 lbs., at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Corona, Queens, NY, co-headlining the Ring III event on DAZN PPV.
The southpaw Stevenson began the bout boxing on his toes, sticking to the body and throwing jab-straight left combinations to the head. Zepeda pressed forward throwing left and right hooks while trying to find openings behind Shakur’s tight guard. They spent the entire second frame trading power shots on the inside, with Zepeda digging away at the midsection and Stevenson throwing hooks upstairs. In round three, Zepeda, of San Mateo, Mexico, appeared to wobble Stevenson with a stiff jab near a neutral corner, but the champion later said, “He threw a jab and I was off balance, not hurt.”
Electing to focus on counterpunching, Stevenson willingly backed to the ropes. In doing so, he absorbed a lot of unnecessary leather. Overall, Zepeda landed 272 out of 979 punches thrown, including 110 body shots. Ultimately, this game plan proved to be effective and helped turn the tide of the contest. By the midway point, Shakur was in complete control. Zepeda’s punch output waned and Stevenson’s sharp, well-placed counters pushed him ahead.
Zepeda tried to pick up the pace again over the championship rounds, but Shakur found the proper distance to keep out of harm’s way and bang his adversary with fast combinations. Stevenson’s fists found the target 295 times out of 565 punches thrown, landing nearly 56 percent of his power shots. Scorecards read 119-109, and 118-110 twice, all for Stevenson, now 24-0 (11 KOs), by way of unanimous decision. Zepeda left the ring at 33-1 (27 KOs).
“Zepeda pushed me to another level,” said Stevenson. “He made me make adjustments, made me think. I stood in the pocket to let you guys know I could get busy in there,” said Stevenson.
“Everybody in my corner told me to stay off the ropes, but I’ve been feeling comfortable on the ropes. I took advantage of the opportunities and countered.
“Going forward, I’m going to make adjustments to make sure I don’t stay there too long. I took more punishment than usual tonight. I want to get back to my boxing. I don’t plan on getting hit anymore.”
