William Zepeda’s Coach Exposes Shakur Stevenson’s Rejection Of May 3rd Bout: ‘Too Soon’

William Zepeda’s coach, Panda, let the cat out of the bag, revealing that Shakur Stevenson turned down a fight against Zepeda for May 4th (correction: May 3rd) for the Canelo Alvarez vs. William Scull undercard in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Zepeda Fight Denied

Coach Panda says he was told that it was “too soon” for Shakur (23-0, 11 KOs) to fight Zepeda. Obviously, reinforces the view that fans have about the Newark, New Jersey native, Shakur, that he’s ducking real fights in favor of tomato cans to ensure that he doesn’t get beat.

This is what I was afraid of. Shakur is avoiding the real threats to milk his WBC lightweight title and artificially maintain his unbeaten record. Zepeda (32-0, 27 KOs) would be a nightmare for Shakur, who would be running all over creation to keep from being trapped and forced to deal with defending against an avalanche of punches.

“After Shakur won the last fight [Josh Padley], we were supposed to fight in Saudi Arabia on May 4th, but somebody said it was too soon,” said coach Panda to MillCity Boxing about Shakur Stevenson saying it was “too soon” to fight William Zepeda after his victory over Josh Padley on February 22nd. “Yeah, the Canelo [vs. William Scull] undercard in Saudi Arabia.”

Stevenson’s Strategy

Shakur isn’t going to be able to back his way into a fight against Tank Davis by soft opposition into infinity, hoping that he can trick him into fighting him. Tank can see for himself that Stevenson isn’t fighting world class opposition since his bad experience against Edwin De Los Santos. It’s real sneaky stuff.

The WBC needs to put Shakur’s feet to the fire to force him to fight Zepeda or #1 Andy Cruz. He can’t just sit on his WBC title like a mother hen, waiting for Tank Davis to give him the payday that he’s been campaigning for since he moved up to lightweight in 2023. Tank should insist that Shakur face these three fighters before he gives him the fight that he’s been begging him for:

1. Andy Cruz
2. William Zepeds
3. Keyshawn Davis

To get the ultimate pot of gold against the King of the lightweight division, Shakur should be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. Those three are good enough tests for Shakur to show he’s worthy of meeting with his highness, Tank. I’m not asking for much. Just fight those three, Shakur, and if you come through those three apex predators still in one piece, you get the payday against Gervonta.

If Stevenson loses to one of the killers at 135, the goldmine fight that he’s been feverishly lobbying for against Gervonta Davis will go out the window permanently; hence, when Shakur needed a replacement after his hand-picked opponent, the 22-year-old novice, Floyd Schofield pulled out of their fight on February 22nd in Riyadh, knockout artist Jadier Herrera (17-0, 15 KOs) was passed over in favor or the light hitter Josh Padley (15-1, 4 KOs) with his 26.67% KO rate.

If one had any doubts that Shakur is protecting his unbeaten record, his choice of Padley over the Cuban talent Herrera told all you need to know.