Sunday Convo: William Zepeda Has Next But Against Who?

If there was ever a doubt that lightweight William Zepeda (30-0, 26 KOs) was a contender ready for a title shot next, then last night should’ve silenced those doubts. His performance is what you would expect from Zepeda if you followed his career path. But if you didn’t, then last night raised some eyebrows and made you think about how good Zepeda is and what fights lie ahead for him.

Maxi Hughes (26-7-2, 5 KOs) was game last night, and in the first round, he showed everyone watching that he wasn’t intimidated going into the most challenging fight of his career. Zepeda did what most seasoned veterans do when facing an experienced fighter: he was patient, took in Hughes’ punches to feel his power, and established the distance he wanted to be in for the fight early on. Once the bell rang to start the second round, Zepeda turned the volume up, and it was the beginning of the end.

Zepeda reminds me of a power running back in the NFL, where once they get going “downhill,” it’s hard to stop them. Zepeda started to unleash his arsenal, and the hundred punches a round started to happen. It’s hard to defend against such volume, and Hughes struggled to keep up. That’s what Zepeda does, and in the third round, Hughes’ trainers were on the corner steps, threatening to throw in the towel as their fighter was getting pummeled. At the end of the fourth round, Hughes’ trainer looked at him in his eyes and told him he was stopping the fight, and there were no complaints from Hughes.

Will we see Shakur Stevenson vs William Zepeda on July 6?

The great thing about last night’s win for Zepeda is that it earned him a mandatory shot at not only the IBF lightweight title but also the WBA one. The WBA title is held by Abdul ‘Tank’ Wahid (Gervonta Davis, 29-0, 27 KOS), who is fighting Frank Martin (18-0, 12 KOs) in the summer, and the IBF title will be on the line when Vasiliy Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs) faces George Kambosos Jr (21-2, 10 KOs) on May 12. Shakur Stevenson (21-0, 10 KOs) has a July 6 date in Newark, NJ, at the Prudential Center, but no opponent yet.

Most of the titles are tied up within the next three months, except for Stevenson’s WBC strap. Zepeda has been calling for the Stevenson fight for some time, and his promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, has also been teasing that matchup. On Saturday night, De La Hoya posted on X, “Hi @ShakurStevenson, this is @williamzepeda2 “. Of course, Stevenson responded via quote tweet and said, “I’m ready in July. Let’s make it happen. Hit my promoter Oscar.” Stevenson’s promoter is Top Rank and De La Hoya has a good relationship with them, so this is a fight that could truly happen in July.

What are Zepeda’s other options?

Although this may not be the most popular path to take, Zepeda could wait and face the winner of Lomachenko vs Kambosos. If Zepeda were to do that, he could then face Stevenson in a unification later in the year if he were to win the title. As far as Stevenson, he could face rising contender Raymond Muratalla(19-0, 16 KOs), which is no easy fight in July.

Ultimately, Zepeda is in a great place right now, and that’s a fighter with options. It’s now up to his promoter to figure out the best path for his fighter for a world title. One thing is for sure: Zepeda has everyone’s attention, so let’s hope he can remain active and get the biggest fight possible next.

Abraham Gonzalez

Abraham Gonzalez is the founder of FightsATW. His journalistic work has been published and used across several platforms to include online, network TV and promotional companies. He is an American Public University alumnus and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). Abraham was the Managing Editor for NYFights, Big Fight Weekend, contributed to FanSidedMMA and ProBoxTV.

See author's posts