Undefeated third-ranked lightweight William Zepeda will get his preparation fight against Tevin Farmer in 17 days on November 16th at Latino Night at the Venue in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This dry running to the talented Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs) before facing the real thing, the WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevensonon February 22.
Farmer (33-6-1, 8 KOs) has a similar style to Shakur but is less shy about running into the ring after the first hint of danger. Former IBF super featherweight champion Farmer is more willing to stand in the pocket and throw punches than Shakur, who doesn’t have the heart to fight in Zepeda’s one-man pocket.
Can A Farmer Keep Zepeda Off?
Tevin Farmer’s three-fight winning streak came in his last fight, a ten-round unanimous decision loss to top-ranked Raymond Muratalla on July 13. Farmer exposed the undefeated Muratalla in that contest, making him look beat with his boxing skills.
However, it will be a different story if Farmer goes in against Zepeda because he is a very different type of fighter with an inside game, strength, and high work rate that makes him unstoppable. He is a fighter who is ready to beat pure boxers like Farmer and Shakur.
Zepeda has looked dominant recently, striking out Giovanni Cabrera, Maxi Hughes, and Mercito Gesta early in those battles. What was impressive about those games was the way Zepeda started slowly and went like a train in the last half of the second round.
Once Zepeda steps up his charge, he is unstoppable, and his opponents fight for survival. That’s what we might see from the 34-year-old Farmer, who has never fought like this in his 13-year professional career.
Fighting a guy like Zepeda in this last period will be a real problem for Farmer because he won’t be able to run. The Mexican talent is very good at cutting his prey in the ring.
Farmer has been saying that Zepeda won’t come to the Shakur fight because he plans to beat him on November 16th, but that sounds like wishful thinking. Zepeda will be like glue, sticking to him inside, throwing him into the body, and making life difficult for him.
Fans are looking forward to seeing Zepeda face Shakur because the match is shown on PPV and is getting a lot of attention.
This will be Shakur’s first fight in his two-fight contract with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing, and he is set for a rematch with Gervonta Davis in mid-2025. Shakur doesn’t have the offense or the inside game to fight Zepeda.
Therefore, he will use the same style of hitting and running in his controversial 12-round victory over Edwin De Los Santos last November.
Shakur was running at De Los Santos, he didn’t do anything, and the judge is still circling him. We will probably see a similar approach from Shakur against Zepeda, but it will be too extreme because the Mexican star’s offensive skills and work rate are more than De Los Santos’.
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