Oscar De La Hoya says William Zepeda has told him that WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson has the “perfect style for me” to beat him next month on July 12th. Zepeda (33-0, 27 KOs) is seen as the underdog against Shakur (23-0, 11 KOs), but he’s not worried about that. He sees Stevenson’s style as ideal for him to dominate. Zepeda says he’ll “run Shakur out of the ring.” If Shakur runs all night, the New Yorker’s will boo him out of the Stadium, and his career will be over.

Shakur vs. Zepeda will be fighting in the 12-round co-feature bout on DAZN PPV at the Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York. The headliner is Edgar Berlanga vs. Hamzah Sheeraz, which is an excellent super middleweight contest between two big punchers.

Shakur’s “Glass Hands” Feared

De La Hoya feels that Shakur’s glass hands could betray him against Zepeda because he’s going to need to be able to sit down on his shots with full force to slow down the Mexican volume puncher. Even with two healthy hands, Shakur will have massive problems dealing with the pressure from Zepeda. But with his fragile hands, it may be impossible.

You’ve got to give Top Rank and Matchroom a lot of credit for steering Shakur around all the dangerous punchers to avoid him getting beaten repeatedly during his eight-year professional career. For this fight, he can’t be protected from Zepeda because Turki Alalshikh is paying him too much money.

Zepeda Predicts Stevenson Upset

“It’s going to be very difficult, but I keep talking to William Zepeda, and he keeps telling me and promising me, ‘Oscar, he has the perfect style for me. Trust me, I’m going to run him out of the ring,’” said promoter Oscar De La Hoya to Golden Boy Promotions when asked how William Zepeda will defeat WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson on July 12th.

It may not be difficult for Zepeda. The hardest part for him will be to chase Shakur down, because once he’s got himself in position to land, he’ll chop him up. Zepeda will take whatever shots Stevenson throws to land his volume shots to the body and head.

“I’m thinking, ‘Wait, Shakur is no slouch. You know, he has that defense that is very hard to crack be broken, but it’s very difficult.’ If William Zepeda is in his A-game, and he puts the constant pressure that he’s used to. I don’t know because Shakur Stevenson, everybody knows he has brittle hands. Everybody knows it,” said De La Hoya.

If Zepeda fights like he did in his rematch with Tevin Farmer last March in Cancun, it’s going to be difficult for Shakur to survive through the sixth round. Farmer, who is a lot stronger, bigger, and tougher than Stevenson, looked like he was on the verge of caving in the first half. He was turning his back on Zepeda, as if he were hoisting the white flag of surrender. Luckily for Tevin, the referee didn’t halt the fight, as many others would have.

De La Hoya’s Disguised Praise

“He doesn’t punch too hard, or that’s what people say, until you’re in the ring with him, right? That’s when you get hit, and you feel the punch. On paper, this is a great matchup. It’s a perfect opportunity for the winner to come out victorious and become a star,” said De La Hoya.

Oscar sounds disengenuous here, saying nice things about Shakur. He hasn’t looked good in any of his last two fights despite being matched against mediocre opposition. Since Stevenson’s disastrous performance against Edwin De Los Santos in 2023, he’s fought these weak punchers and has still not impressed:

– Josh Padley
– Artem Harutyunyan