The co-feature of Saturday’s boxing card in New York introduced some fireplace, as Shakur Stevenson defended his WBC light-weight title by unanimous resolution in a superb back-and-forth struggle in opposition to William Zepeda. A relentless Zepeda put up his finest effort, however Stevenson’s technicality received out to assist him retain his title.
The ultimate scores had been 118-110, 118-110 and 119-109, all in Stevenson’s favor.
Saturday’s struggle was a sport of offense vs. protection. Stevenson (24-0, 11 KOs), who is thought for his closely defensive type, began off the bout by dancing away from the aggressive-swinging Zepeda (33-1, 27 KOs). Although Stevenson was extra environment friendly, Zepeda was capable of management the tempo, forcing Stevenson to have interaction with the struggle extra so than his normal output.
Within the third, fourth and fifth rounds, Zepeda cornered Stevenson into the ropes, getting in just a few large jabs. However Stevenson finally pulled again into the middle of the ring, staying technical and environment friendly along with his blows. Zepeda continued to be relentless, throwing practically 4 instances as many punches as Stevenson, however maintaining with the struggle with a stunning quantity of endurance.
The 2 exchanged a number of key mixtures, however Stevenson began to tug away as Zepeda’s relentlessness started to flag. Although the primary six rounds had been extremely shut, Stevenson was capable of shift gears and retain momentum down the stretch to retain his title.
Stevenson, who has held the light-weight title since 2023, was the clear favourite heading into Saturday’s struggle. He sits at No. 10 in Uncrowned’s pound-for-pound boxing rankings, in comparison with the unranked Zepeda, and is a quick, wily fighter with a defensive mindset.
However, as anticipated, Saturday’s struggle was one among Stevensons largest challenges thus far. Each Stevenson and Zepeda had been undefeated heading into the struggle, with Zepeda boasting considerably extra knockouts than Stevenson on account of his aggressive strategy.
The assembly of two polar reverse types was additionally poignant, on condition that Stevenson’s type has drawn some latest criticism for not being as entertaining. However Stevenson has been unapologetic about the best way he fights.
“I don’t care about that s***,” he instructed Uncrowned forward of Saturday’s card, citing, partially, his security by way of harm. “I’m coming in there to struggle my struggle, and at instances I shall be toe-to-toe with him [when I want to be].”
Clearly, it really works: The 28-year-old was capable of sustain the counterattack in opposition to Zepedas persistent strikes to tug off the win.
After retaining his WBC light-weight title, Stevenson now appears towards his subsequent problem together with probably making an attempt to arrange a struggle with WBA light-weight titleholder Gervonta “Tank” Davis.
For full protection of Saturday’s struggle card, together with dwell outcomes, play-by-play and highlights of your complete DAZN pay-per-view, take a look at Uncrowned’s Berlanga vs. Sheeraz hub.
