Pressure from William Zepeda will force Shakur to fight, farmer says

Tevin Farmer says Shakur Stevenson will have to “fight” William Zepeda to win because he throws too many punches at him to avoid them all.

WBC lightweight champion Shakur will fight #1-ranked Zepeda (32-0, 27 KOs) in 2025, provided he wins his title defense against Floyd Schofield on February 22 in Riyadh. Shakur is confident of defeating Zepeda, but Farmer has his doubts.

Zepeda’s volume blow

He obviously knows that the hit-and-run style Stevenson uses won’t keep Zepeda away from him because he cuts the ring well and is willing to take shots to get his. Shakur has no powers and will not be able to escape from Zepeda without running.

That’s not going to work. He will look bad in front of Turki Alalshikh if ​​he tries that tactic against Zepeda in Riyadh.

With Zepeda’s high volume output of over 100 punches per round, Farmer claims that Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) would have to fight him like he did in their clash last month on November 16. Farmer (33-7-1, 8 KOs) attempted to fend off Zepeda’s numerous punches, but to no avail.

Former IBF super featherweight champion Farmer was forced to fight him and was unable to keep up, especially in the championship rounds.

Zepeda wore down Farmer with his body shots and bulk to win a 10-round split decision. The scores were 95-95, 95-94 for Zepeda and 95-94 for Farmer. I watched the fight and Zepeda won 8-2. It seemed that the judges working the fight were not taking into account the numerous body shots that Zepeda was landing in each round. They were just looking at headshots, which Farmer focused on.

If it had been a 12-round fight, he would have knocked out Farmer because the 34-year-old was exhausted in the ninth round and wouldn’t have made it the full twelve rounds without being stopped.

“Golden Boy is willing to do it. The only way the rematch doesn’t happen is if Zepeda’s team says no,” Tevin Farmer told Cigar talk channel about the revenge he wants against William Zepeda after losing to him on November 16.

“Golden Boy wants to have a rematch. I’m not saying that no one has told me anything. I’m saying that Golden Boy wants to do a rematch. I’m pretty sure Turki wants to do it. It was an incredible fight.

“You have to make Zepeda respect you, because if you don’t, he’ll move on,” Farmer said when asked how Shakur Stevenson would fare against William Zepeda.

Farmer’s hopes for a rematch with Zepeda are wishful thinking because Golden Boy isn’t going to push for that fight. They know that the fight for money, the one that Zepeda needs and wants, is against Shakur. The farmer has nothing to offer Zepeda. He is not a champion and has lost his last two fights.

Farmer needs to drop back down to super featherweight because he lacks the power to beat lightweights. If you stay in the 135-pound weight class, you will continue to lose and be forced to leave the game.

Shakur warned about Zepeda

“Zepeda is a pressure fighter and he didn’t throw as many punches; it’s easy to tell someone apart that way,” Farmer said. “It’s easy to spot someone who comes forward and doesn’t throw as many punches. When someone comes forward and throws so many punches, how many punches can you make someone miss, even with my defense?

“I am one of the best defensive fighters. I can stay there and not get hit if I want. I know I can’t do that because how many hits can I dodge? Yes, Shakur is going to have to fight (Zepeda). To me, Shakur is one of the best in the world, but he will have to fight,” Farmer said.

Zepeda forced Farmer to fight him because he was cutting across the ring and trapping him against the ropes. Either Farmer had to fight or Zepeda would have knocked him out. It will be the same with Shakur. He doesn’t have the power, toughness or courage that Farmer has. There is no way Stevenson could have landed the type of shots Farmer did against Zepeda without getting knocked out or running and holding on.

“I’m not saying he has to do what I did. I’m built different. I have a chin, I can give birth and I can do all that. I’m not saying he (Shakur) won’t do it, but he’s going to have to fight,” Farmer said about how he’s better than Stevenson because he’ll actually be in the pocket and willing to make changes.

“I feel like I should have gotten the win. With the fall, that was the icing on the cake to be able to overcome it. Everyone has their opinion, but I don’t care,” Farmer said of his belief that he did enough to deserve a victory against Zepeda.