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Eddie Hearn says he’s been told lightweight contender William Zepeda will fight Tevin Farmer next, not George Kambosos Jr., before the end of the year.
Zepeda is reportedly fighting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, next. So, if it’s Farmer that he’s facing, they’ll get paid well, giving Zepeda a chance to show off his talent against the former IBF super featherweight champion.
Matchroom promoter Hearn says he’d been told that Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs) wouldn’t be available to fight through November because his wife was having a child. Hearn had wanted #1 WBC Zepeda to face his recently signed fighter, lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson.
Instead, Hearn was forced to dig up another opponent for Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) to fight on October 12th, Joe Cordina, and he’s been dealing with a backlash ever since. Cordina was knocked out in the eighth round last May and has never fought at 135. You couldn’t find a worse opponent for Shakut to fight if you tried, and Hearn stepped into it with this move.
Farmer’s Resurgence
The 34-year-old Farmer (33-6-1, 8 KOs) is coming off a razor-close ten-round unanimous decision loss to Raymond Muratalla on July 13th in Las Vegas.
Going into that fight, many boxing fans felt that the heavy-handed and much younger 27-year-old Muratalla would blow Farmer out of the water based on his power. But surprisingly, Farmer outboxed Muratalla in many rounds, showing skills he could wish to have. Farmer looked in vintage former, showing no signs of age, and back to where he was before title loss to Joseph ‘JoJo’ Diaz on July 30, 2020.
“We were a bit disappointed because I talked to Shakur, Josh Duban, and the guys today, and we were told that [William] Zepeda wouldn’t be available in October, November, or September because he was having a child,” said Eddie Hearn to the iFL TV site about William Zepeda not being available to fight recently signed Matchroom fighter, WBC lightweight champion
Shakur’s Dodged Bullet
It’s perhaps a good thing that Zepeda is fighting Farmer next rather than Shakur. Hearn might see it as a bad thing that Shakur isn’t fighting Zepeda this year, but he’s not ready for this kind of a high-pressure, high-volume fighter. Shakur, 27, is too weak and can’t handle pressure well without taking off running.
“Now, we’re hearing I believe he’s going to fight Tevin Farmer. I thought he [Zepeda] was going to fight George Kambosos, but he’s not fighting George Kambosos. I hear it’s Tevin Farmer. We were ready to go straight into that Zepeda fight, but maybe they’re not. So, we’ll see,” said Hearn.
If you’re Hearn, you should keep Shakur away from Zepeda until after he gets the big payday fight against Gervonta Davis in 2025. Shakur will not beat Zepeda without controversy. It would be a similar fight to Shakur’s match against Edwin De Los Santos, where he hits and runs all night, and judges give him a dubious decision. Shakur can’t beat a fighter like Zepeda by trading, and he would be forced to stay on his bike to win an ugly decision in a boo-filled fight.
The Albatross
Hearn needs to let Shakur go after his two fights are up with Matchroom rather than pouring more money into this albatross. If Shakur can get the Tank fight in his second clash of his two-fight deal with Matchroom, that’s good.
Hearn can then wash his hands of Shakur after he loses that fight. U.S. fans don’t want to see Shakur fighting Zepeda with his hit-and-run style, especially if this match will be sold on PPV, like Stevenson’s headliner against the recently knocked-out Cordina on October 12th. Shakur won’t stand and fight Zepeda because he’ll get obliterated within three rounds.
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