When the news hit Monday afternoon that the WBC had ordered Shakur Stevenson to make a mandatory defense of his WBC lightweight title versus no.1 contender William Zepeda, smart boxing fans collectively rolled their eyes.
You see, you can only force a title fight if the challenger is willing to challenge.
Over the past several days, following Stevenson’s last bout under a Top Rank promotional contract and Zepeda’s three-round crushing of Giovanni Cabrera on the same day, Zepeda’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya was loud and proud about bringing Shakur into the Golden Boy family to make a Stevenson-Zepeda bout. In an interview, he intimated that he could construct a Mayweather-like rise to stardom for the talented 27-year-old. He even went on social media last Thursday to claim that Zepeda would fight Stevenson, but only if he signed with De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions– a demand that would wildly violate the “coercive business practices” provision in the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act…if it were true.
Had a great meeting with @ShakurStevenson representatives. @williamzepeda2 will only fight him if Shakur is signed to @GoldenBoyBoxing
— Oscar De La Hoya (@OscarDeLaHoya) July 12, 2024
But Oscar’s assertion clearly wasn’t true.
A savvy WBC would order for the mandatory Stevenson-Zepeda defense to turn a called bluff into a possible money score for themselves, pushing for the most lucrative bout in the lightweight division not involving Gervonta Davis or Vasiliy Lomachenko.
Zepeda is the no.1 135 lb. contender for all four of the sanctioning bodies, but, with Davis vs. Lomachenko rumored to be in the works, the Shakur fight is the only remaining “money” title fight for the Mexican pressure fighter, who many believe is on the precipice of next-level stardom.
Except…De La Hoya seems to be walking back his gung ho attitude when it comes to his guy facing off with Stevenson. Now, apparently, with Stevenson issued a “must fight Zepeda” ultimatum, De La Hoya’s stance appears to be “You can’t force my guy to fight anyone.” Needless to say, this is a complete change in tone from the De La Hoya who glibly addressed Stevenson in a video prior to the Stevenson and Zepeda fight nights, with a “So, Shakur, you say nobody wants to fight you, well check out William Zepeda Saturday night on DAZN…He’s BEGGING to fight you.”
check this out @williamzepeda2 is so bad ass he has four sanctioning bodies to choose from. Nobody will tell him who he must fight next.
— Oscar De La Hoya (@OscarDeLaHoya) July 15, 2024
If all this seems familiar, that’s because it’s kind of happened before. Back in late 2022, De La Hoya turned down a 2023 WBC lightweight title eliminator against Stevenson for his fighter, saying via social media that he needed “more exposure for Zepeda to create a super fight with Shakur.”
A lot can be said about De La Hoya’s proclivities, fluctuating states of mind, and general level of maturity, but he DOES know boxing and he knows a bad styles matchup when he sees it.
Zepeda is an offensive force and an impressive ring presence. He’s the type of high volume beast many managers/promoters would prefer not to fight, unless there’s a ton of money in it and/or nowhere else to go for a payday. But many a beast has been embarrassingly tamed when put into a boxing match against someone who can move, think, and stick to a smart game plan.
From the De La Hoya/Golden Boy perspective, pushing their guy into a Stevenson fight would be a cash-out before real cash can even be made. Instead, Zepeda could be matched up with the most vulnerable, by far, of the reigning lightweight champs, WBO titlist Denys Berinchyk. Once holding that belt, his people could cash checks on his world champ status while having a viable excuse for Zepeda not fighting Shakur, Lomachenko, or Davis– “We can’t force the other champs to unify! Plus, we have our mandatories!” It was interesting to note that Zepeda, in his post-fight interview after beating Cabrera, went out of his way to call out Berinchyk, specifically, above all other champs.
None of this is to say that Zepeda is “scared” of Stevenson. The southpaw battler would probably fight a threshing machine if it meant a title, a big payday, and a shot at in-ring glory. His people, however, may indeed be scared of how bad their fighter could look in a Stevenson bout.
That’s just the business of boxing. Nobody making an investment, anywhere, wants their stock to crash before they can reap some reward. In a boxing business where promoters don’t start seeing a profit on their investment in a fighter until he/she becomes a true main stage player, it’s especially important to pick opposition wisely.
The nasty part is that, as time passes and as narratives twist fading memories, a guy like Shakur Stevenson (who has legitimately made plays to fight Zepeda, Isaac Cruz, and George Kambosos to no avail) will probably catch more flak for not fighting so-and-so than for the so-and-sos who wouldn’t fight him.
Paul Magno has over forty years of experience in and around the sport of boxing and has had his hand in everything from officiating to training. As a writer, his work has appeared on Yahoo Sports, Fox Sports, Fight Hype, Max Boxing, Boxing.com, Inside Fights, The Queensberry Rules, Overtime Heroics, Bleacher Report, and Premier Boxing Champions. He is currently the owner and managing editor or The Boxing Tribune. You can follow his Twitter/X account, @boxing_tribune, for breaking boxing news, analysis, and sometimes NSFW commentary. For Advertising, Inquiries, etc., send him an email here: paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com