It’s confirmed. Following weeks of suspense, news has finally emerged. The Ring Magazine’s double headliner, Shakur Stevenson-William Zepeda and Edgar Berlanga-Hamzah Sheeraz, will take place on July 12. Hosting its first boxing event, the famous Louis Armstrong Stadium in New York will feature the big fights. Compared to Berlanga-Sheeraz, the Stevenson-Zepeda matchup has been doing the rounds for some time. Needless to say, alongside the Canelo-Crawford fight, the lightweight title defense occupies major boxing conversation.

For Stevenson, who foresees a dream fight against Gervonta Davis, it’s a critical match. A win potentially propels him towards lightweight dominance. But the fact remains, Zepeda is unlike the opponents he has faced before. The aggressive, heavy-hitter will do everything in his power to derail Stevenson’s plans. Having received scathing criticisms for his last few fights, Stevenson’s challenges only compound. However, like many, Claressa Shields believes that on July 12, Stevenson will finally shut down all the naysayers who had been raising doubts over his form and style.

There’s only one way the fight ends: The Shakur Way

“When Shakur school & hurt Zepeda I don’t want to hear y’all complaining,” said the two-time Olympic gold medalist. Encouraging others to come out and support Shakur Stevenson, Shields said, “🗣️Give that man his props!!” Of course, like always, the post encountered a slew of jibes. Take, for instance, this user who laughingly said, “Hurting him 🤣🤣🤣. we talking about Shakur, right? LMFAO .” Though he knocked down Josh Padley, Stevenson’s last two fights, especially the title fight against Edwin De Los Santos, came under heavy scrutiny.

Panned for being overtly defensive, many slammed the Newark-born Olympic silver medalist for his ‘running’ tactics. Some didn’t spare him for the Padley fight either. The Englishman, a part-time electrician, was a last-minute replacement for Floyd Schofield, Stevenson’s originally scheduled opponent. Hence, to a few, it was an easy job that Stevenson should have wound up much earlier than the nine rounds he took to knock out Padley.

Especially given that the 27-year-old world champion had been dealing with hand injuries, there have been a few concerns about how he is going to deal with a pressure fighter like Zepeda.

Shakur Stevenson needs to tread carefully

But there’s good news. Zepeda’s two fights, the recent ones against Tevin Farmer, a slick southpaw, were anything but easy. With the first fight ending in a split decision and the second one that took place in Mexico, Zepeda’s home country, also winding up on scorecards, it appears Stevenson’s Mexican challenger has exposed a few of his vulnerabilities.

Former British and IBO titleholder Maxi Hughes, who Zepeda retired last year, spoke about his tilt towards Shakur Stevenson. He said, “He’s obviously a bit of a beast, but then seeing him against Tevin Farmer, he showed a few holes in his armor, so I’m leaning towards Shakur to outbox him.” However, he couldn’t conclude without sounding off a caution: “But if Shakur doesn’t hit that hard—as we’re seeing—he might not.”

Despite his technical shortcomings, Zepeda is known to apply consistent pressure for 12 whole rounds. It’s something Shakur Stevenson will not only have to withstand but also ensure that he is able to deter the Mexican fighter with an 82% KO rate.

Do you think it’s high time fans started seeing Shakur Stevenson’s skills from a different lens?