Shakur Stevenson is predicted to defend his WBC light-weight title towards the amount puncher William Zepeda in February in his debut with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing. Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) comes from hand surgical procedure, and he believes he doesn’t want a tune-up to organize for the human buzzsaw Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs).
Hearn believes Shakur will defeat Zepeda with none issues after which face Gervonta Davis in the summertime in a unification battle at light-weight. He naively thinks that Shakur is the perfect fighter at 135 and is destined to grow to be a worldwide celebrity.
There’s a superb opportunity that Zepeda will expose the previous three-division world champion Shakur in the identical approach that Giovanni Cabrera and Maxi Hughes not too long ago have been. Stevenson hasn’t fought a quantity puncher like Zepeda throughout his profession, and he’s additionally by no means fought somebody who targets the physique the way in which that he does.
It could possibly be attention-grabbing to see Hearn’s response if Shakur fails to stay as much as his imaginative and prescient. We noticed how Hearn muddied the water after his fighter Dmitry Bivol misplaced final weekend. Will he do the identical factor if Shakur will get blown out by William Zepeda in February? I certain hope not.
The 2020 Olympic silver medalist Shakur could possibly be asking for hassle taking this battle as a result of he lacks the offensive instruments to match what Zepeda can generate.
Shakur lacks in these areas:
- Low Punch Output: Anemic work price. Based on Compu-box, Shakur has averaged 13.6 punches per spherical throughout his profession. In battle towards Edwin De Los Santos final November, Stevenson landed solely 40 punches in the complete 12-round battle. That’s an absurdly low quantity for any fighter to land in a battle, but it surely alerts Shakur’s imbalance in his recreation. In different phrases, he’s all protection and no offense. Compared, William Zepeda averages 100.2 punches per spherical. Let that sink in. Zepeda throws 86.6 extra punches per spherical than Shakur.
- Under common energy: Stevenson has a KO proportion of fifty and has solely stopped one fighter within the final three years, and that was Shuichiro Yoshino. Zepeda has a KO proportion of 77, which is excellent for any fighter. That’s like George Foreman stage.
- Incapacity to Combat within the Pocket: Resulting from Shakur’s lack of energy and avoidance of danger, he doesn’t battle within the pocket as a result of it includes exchanges along with his opponents. What this implies is that Shakur will should be on the run for 3 minutes of each spherical towards Zepeda as he did in his battle towards Edwin De Los Santos to keep away from getting knocked out. Sadly, it’s going to be tough for Shakur to win a call preventing like that until the judges rating the rounds favorably do him.
Will Hearn Dump Shakur If He Loses?
Promoter Eddie Hearn might want to resolve what to do with Shakur if he will get knocked out by Zepeda. He most likely will get a lot sympathy if he cries theft as a result of Individuals gained’t purchase that and provides Shakur a move like they’re doing with Bivol after he ran from the battlefield in his loss to Beterbiev.
The most effective technique can be for Hearn to chop his losses and dump Shakur after his two-fight contract with Matchroom expires. Hearn may match Shakur robust towards Andy Cruz or Liam Paro for his second battle after which wash his fingers of him after he will get overwhelmed by a type of guys as properly.
Shakur doesn’t appear to belong on this era. He’s like somebody from a previous period who’s utilizing a method that’s outdated and not related for the twenty first century. It’s like he was transported from a distinct period and he’s completely alien to how folks battle now.
Final Up to date on 10/19/2024
