Shakur Stevenson and William Zepeda continued with their signature work within the boxing ring Saturday evening, and what’s changing into clear is that the pair are finest suited to combat one another subsequent.
In Monday’s episode of ProBox TV’s “Deep Waters,” analyst Chris Algieri mentioned the present conditions of every fighter leaves them searching for a dance accomplice, peering squarely on the different.
Three-division and WBC light-weight champion Stevenson (22-0) simply disposed of challenger Artem Harutyunyan in New Jersey to finish his contract with promoter Prime Rank, which signed him out of the 2016 Olympics.
As Prime Rank is engaged with Premier Boxing Champions to make a unification between IBF champion Vasiliy Lomachenko and WBA champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis by yr’s finish, Stevenson, 27, is disadvantaged of a unification risk.
Mexico’s Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs), ranked as No. 1 light-weight contender by all 4 sanctioning our bodies, equally seems out of luck in his pursuit of a belt in opposition to new WBO 135-pound champion Denys Berinchyk.
Whereas Zepeda promoter Oscar De La Hoya mentioned he needs to focus on Berinchyk first for Zepeda, Prime Rank officers advised BoxingScene that risk is “uncertain” and mentioned they produce other plans for Berinchyk, together with a gap to land on the Dec. 21 Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury II card in Saudi Arabia.
Prime Rank Chairman Bob Arum is pointing his unbeaten 2020 Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn Davis towards Berinchyk.
So, when Zepeda, after knocking out Giovanni Cabrera within the third spherical, mentioned within the Ontario, Calif., ring Saturday evening that he would journey to war-torn Ukraine to combat Berinchyk, Algieri responded, “He’s obtained no selection.
“For him to get any of those (title) fights, he’s going to should take super-short cash and combat (these champions) of their dwelling rooms – each brief stick potential,” Algieri cracked.
“There’s no motive for these different promoters to present (Zepeda) a shot. He’s good. He’s robust. Why give him a title? De La Hoya says he needs Berinchyk. So does each different light-weight (contender).”
That’s why a match with Stevenson is sensible.
Whereas Stevenson has had followers stroll out early from his previous two fights due to an absence of exercise, a bout with the fiercely aggressive Zepeda would give Stevenson the chance to indicate how his sensational talent can defuse a killer puncher.
“(Stevenson) seemed good (Saturday). He fully shut down Artem … he’s simply not a finisher, not a knockout man,” Algieri mentioned.
“He’s obtained a (public relations) drawback. He’s his personal P.R., and he tells folks he’s going to knock folks out.
“That’s not you, man. Simply fully disarm these guys and be the sensible boxer you’re.”
Algieri likens Stevenson to the late former pound-for-pound king Pernell “Candy Pea” Whitaker, who made no apologies for low knockout numbers whereas taking satisfaction that, “you’ll be able to’t contact me, harm me, make my nostril bleed or barely make me break a sweat.”
With Stevenson, mentioned Algieri, his knockout vows elicit “snooze this, snooze that” criticism from his followers and reporters.
“A boxing purist like me, I like,” Stevenson’s combating model, Algieri mentioned. “However everybody else searching for him to beat this man’s ass, they’re going to be left longing.”
Now that he’s a free agent, Stevenson may be clever to show to all-action Zepeda.
And since Zepeda has nowhere else to go for a belt, he ought to embrace the problem – as advanced as it’s and as troublesome as it is going to be to wrest the belt from him.
“Shakur is the champion,” “Deep Waters” analyst and Corridor of Fame fighter Timothy Bradley Jr. emphasised, to which fellow analyst Paulie Malignaggi responded, “If a man needs to be a champion, Shakur isn’t the man who’s going to make them a champion.”
For now, although, he stands out as the solely method to attempt.
