Golden Boy Promotions president Eric Gomez believes that an encounter between William Zepeda and Shakur Stevenson could be in the offering, with Gomez confirming Zepeda has made Stevenson his number one target.
Zepeda (29-0, 25KOs) was last in action in September, delivering a brutal stoppage victory over Mercito Gesta inside six rounds to solidify his world title ambitions.
Gomez drew comparisons between a prospective Zepeda-Stevenson fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr’s encounters with Jose Luis Castillo and Marcos Maidana, predominantly down to the comparisons often made between Mayweather and two-weight world champion Stevenson.
“Funny enough, that’s who William Zepeda wants,” Gomez said on The 3 Knockdown Rule. “He wants Shakur Stevenson (20-0, 10KOs). For whatever reason, there’s something he sees that we don’t. Look, Shakur’s a young Mayweather. He really is. And he’s probably a better finisher than Mayweather. I don’t want to take anything from Mayweather; he’s a great fighter, one of the best of all time, but Shakur has that kind of talent. He’s that good. I love the way he works, his ring generalship, he works his distance well.
“But for whatever reason, if you look at Mayweather’s career, who gave him problems? Castillo and Maidana. And William Zepeda, he throws more than [those guys], and he changes his height, he changes his angles. There’s something that William Zepeda sees. He tells us, ‘We want Shakur, we want Shakur.’”
There is optimism that a deal could be made following the recent collaboration between Top Rank [Who promote Stevenson] and Golden Boy Promotions last month. Giovani Santilllan of Top Rank would defeat Golden Boy’s Alexis Rocha after an agreement between the promotional entities allowed the fight to proceed.
Such cross-promotion events are becoming more infrequent but does give food for thought regarding a possible, increasing willingness for Top Rank and Golden Boy to work together on a case-by-case basis.
Gomez believes that Zepeda is one of the more entertaining fighters in the sport today, insisting that he is like a fighter of times gone by.
“He’s exciting,” Gomez said of Zepeda. “He’s a throwback guy. He knows he’s gonna get hit. He does his best to keep his hands up, but he’s just so busy. There’s an old saying in boxing, the best defense is a great offense. He’s just like that.”
