“Zepeda Fight Will Be Made”: Shakur Stevenson’s Firm Resolve Amid Purse-Bid Threat

Shakur Stevenson stubbornly insists the fight with William Zepeda will still happen despite his comments about Turki Alalshikh “going back on the amount of money he had previously offered him in the past.

The New Jersey native wants that fight with the unbeaten Zepeda, believing it’s easy and will set the table for a unification match against WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis. Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn has it mapped out with his vision of Zepeda leading to the mega-fight with Tank.

Shakur’s Worth?

Stevenson says the WBC has “ordered” the fight with Zepeda (33-0, 27 KOs), and he’ll go the purse-bid route if they can’t reach a deal. It’s expected that Shakur WON’T reach a deal with Zepeda’s promoters at Golden Boy because he’ll price himself out of the Zepeda fight. If Shakur takes it to a purse bid, he may not like what he finds.

He’ll discover his true worth. Turki won’t swoop in and pay Shakur the kind of dough he hopes to get. It would be interesting to know what Stevenson hoped to get for the Zepeda fight. If it’s the $5 million to $10 million range, he’s crazy. He’s an undercard fighter, not a headliner.

Performance Concerns

That will be a difficult fight for Stevenson, too, and he might lose to Zepeda. The only way Shakur can win is by running like he did against Edwin De Los Santos, and if he fights like that, he’ll be booed nonstop by the fans, and his marketability will plummet further than it always is.

WBC lightweight champion Shakur claims the Saudis are trying to “take advantage of me” by offering “way less” than he got for his last title defense against Josh Padley on February 22nd.

“The fight is ordered by the WBC. I’m still Champion and aren’t pulling out of anything. If we can’t reach a deal, then purse bids it is. See you soon,” said Shakur Stevenson on X about him being convinced that his fight with WBC mandatory William Zepeda will still happen next.

“I would cook dude so badly he’s a mismatch,” Shakur said about his hoped-for fight against Zepeda.

Shakur was rumored to have been paid very well by Turki for the fight against the electrician Padley and looked awful, struggling to score a ninth-round stoppage against the light-hitting replacement opponent. After that lackluster performance by Shakur, who could blame the Saudis if they’re not offering him the same money as before?

There’s no market for a boring fighter like Shakur on PPV, and Zepeda has his own problems with his back-to-back narrow wins over Tevin Farmer. The way Stevenson is fighting, he belongs on the preliminary cards because he doesn’t entertain. Boxing is a part of the entertainment business, and he’s an eyesore with how he fights.

Negotiation Breakdown

“I want this fight so bad that these dudes want to take advantage of me by giving me way less than I got for [Josh] Padley just because they know how bad I want it!” said Shakur about his claims that Turki Alalshikh had promised him an amount of money for the Zepeda fight in the past and is now “going way back on that number.”

“Oh yeah, and I’m not done negotiating cause one thing bout it is I’m the champ. So whether the fight gets done with these people [the Saudis] or not, I’m stepping on dude [William Zepeda], but the fight will be made next!!!!

“Oscar DeLaHoya, keep your line open. Let’s make this fight happen,” said Stevenson.