By Brian Webber: Oscar De La Hoya says he wants to match unbeaten lightweight contender William Zepeda against Shakur Stevenson on the same card as Teofimo Lopez vs. Ryan Garcia if that fight comes off for Super Bowl weekend on February 10th.
(Photo credit: Golden Boy Promotions)
It’s unclear how serious De La Hoya is about putting together a fight between Zepeda & Shakur Stevenson, as he looked bug-eyed and a little too happy when talking about his interest in making that match-up.
De La Hoya might have just been throwing out a wild hypothetical fight in midair in a stream of consciousness. Assuming he is serious, it’s an excellent fight, as long as Zepeda isn’t forced to chase Shakur all night like Cuban Robeisy Ramirez did in the 2016 Olympics when he beat him.
It sounds good, but it little hard to swallow, given the type of opposition that Zepeda had fought his entire eight-year career.
Going from fighting the 35-year-old Mercita Gesta to potentially taking on Shakur for the WBC lightweight title is hard to believe.
With Zepeda’s pressure style, he’s got a chance of giving Shakur problems and could make him look bad.
In Shakur’s only fight against a big puncher, Jeremiah Nakathila, he used that awful Mayweather-esque pullback style of his to win, and the boxing fans at ringside booed him like mad.
It’spredictable that Shakur would use the same ugly pull back approach to a fight with Zepeda, making it an unwatchable contest.
Stevenson must get past the dangerous southpaw knockout artist Edwin De Los Santos (16-1, 14 KOs) next month in their battle for the vacant WBC lightweight title on November 16th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
De La Hoya is ready to finally roll the dice with the 27-year-old Zepeda (29-0, 25 KOs) after eight years in the pro ranks.
Thus far, Zepeda has been spoon-fed soft opposition, matched against faded guys like 35-year-old Mercito Gesta, Joseph ‘JoJo’ Diaz, and Rene Alvarado. Zepeda is ranked #2 WBA, #5 WBC, #6 IBF & #6 WBO, and he’s probably as good as he’s ever going to get.
“I talked to Bob [Arum] about Teofimo [Lopez against Ryan Garcia], and it’s a huge fight, it’s an amazing fight. Why not?” said Oscar to Fight Hub TV about his wanting to set up a fight between Ryan Garcia and Teofimo Lopez.
“That’s the kind of conversations that I want to have with promoters. Imagine Bob, who promotes Shakur Stevenson, and I have William Zepeda. They’ve talked about that. Let’s make it happen on the same card, on the same night [as Teofimo vs. Ryan on February 10th].
“Maybe it’s wishful thinking for me, maybe I’m dreaming too big, but I do want to make it happen,” said De La Hoya.
I done made all these millions I’m keeping my hunger
— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) October 3, 2023
