Promoter Eddie Hearn says that he wants WBC to be obligatory William Zepeda to be another opponent of Shakur Stevenson if he wins in his rematch with Tevin Farmer on March 29 at Cancun.
Hearn states that Zepeda (32-0, 29 KO) was part of his original plan of three fights for Shakur (23-0, 11 KO) after he signed him, and still wants it to happen. The original road map, which Hearn had for Stevenson, when he dropped him into a contract with Mathroom, was aimed at taking these fights in this order:
Floyd Schofield
William Zepeda
Gervonta Davis
The match Schofield broke up after he pulled out the disease last week, thanks to which Hearn is necessary to apply for an exchange. He chose a pretender to Fringe, Josh Padley, who turned out to be a mistake on his part because he made Stevenson look like an average warrior in a lost effort.
Not Zepeda, what now?
Hearn wants to continue his original plan to exploit Zepeda as a stepping stone to get a fight with the tank, but it is not clear if it will happen. The head of Golden Boy, Oscar de la Hoya, died down, wanting to fight between Zeda and Shakur. It’s understandable why.
Zepeda can earn a lot more money by fighting Tank Davis than to face Stevenson, who is not an attraction of PPV, and the fight would cause a very diminutive interest in fans. What’s more, Shakur was running around the ring for 12 rounds, as he did against Edwin de Los Santos, playing on the playground for children. This is not engaging for fighters such as Zepeda, Golden Boy or fans.
“I don’t think you will see him in the ring until the back of the summer and we still want what we were promised in the road map, i.e. [William] Zepeda – said Eddie Hearn to Chris Mannix YouTube channel About who he wants the next one for Shakur Stevenson.
Padley fiasco
Shakura’s left -wet -fired left hand was seriously swollen during Padley’s fight, forcing him to exploit his right hand by most of his power. Although Stevenson could still exploit the left when throwing the body, he could not exploit it to throw himself on the head.
“I said I wanted Floyd Schofield, Zepeda, and then Tank. If we go straight to the tank, this is not a problem either. We would like to fight Zepeda. I think Shakur is getting better. People are queuing to criticize Shakur. He had three notice for Josh Padley, “Hearn said, justifying Stevenson’s impoverished performance against Elektryk Padley.
Needed plan B.
Hearn has to start thinking about using someone else for the next opponent of Shakur, because it is painfully obvious that Golden Boy is not interested in allowing him to fight Zepeda. These are more realistic options for Shakur:
– Ernesto Mercado – Andy Cruz – Abdullah Mason – Raymond Muratalla – Edwin de los Santos
“It wasn’t really an ideal situation, and Padley can fight. It is very hard when you were preparing for a bad blood fight with Floyd Schofield, and then suddenly it is not. This guy [Padley] He comes in and you’ve never really seen him. You watch a lot of material. I thought it was a good performance [from Shakur].
“He never lie down [in his career]. He thinks he is the best warrior in the world and wants to prove it. It was always a plan, “said Hearn, when it was asked what promotions Golden Boy say about the fight between Zepeda and Shakur Stevenson.
“Zepeda is a good warrior, and if he goes through the revenge of the farmer [on March 29th]Why not fight? You wouldn’t only fight if you didn’t think you could win and I understand it. There is a lot of money at the rate and he is [Zepeda] Mandatory for the world title. I hope this fight will be made – said Hearn.
Moses It will hurt suffered a surprising defeat to Filip Hrgovic on Saturday, and the 21-year-old has now revealed who he wants to face upon his return.
Itauma looked to be fulfilling his destiny and dominating his Croatian opponent during the opening rounds at the O2 Arena over the weekend, but his success soon turned to desperation when Hrgovic’s chin held up and his own stamina did not.
An exhausted Itauma eventually collapsed in round nine of the contestwith Hrgovic pulling off a remarkable upset to throw the heavyweight scene a huge curveball, hand Itauma a first career loss and get his hands on the IBF heavyweight world title.
In an interview with talkSPORT Boxingpromoter Frank Warren revealed that Itauma has already asked for a rematch with ‘El Animal’.
“In that last round, he was still firing back. He has got a firing heart, he is a very brave young man, very brave. It’s now about what he does, how he prepares, he is saying to me, ‘can we get the rematch on?’, which is a natural reaction.”
Despite the 21-year-old’s desire to take on Hrgovic for a second time, it seems as though the latter will be made to face Cuba’s Frank Sanchez, who agreed to a step-aside deal to allow Itauma and Hrgovic to fight for the IBF title under the condition that he would face the winner.
Continuing, Warren seemed to confirm that a scrap between Hrgovic and Sanchez will be next, advising Itauma to take some time off before rushing into a second shot at the heavyweight throne.
“I told him, ‘you have got to just switch off from boxing, go and chill out, go and spend some time with your family and then come back, recharge your batteries and then we will get to work again,’
“The landscape is what it is, he is a a part of it, he has shown that he belongs at that level and provided that we learn and he learns some lessons from the fight, I think that he can go on and do some great things.”
In his post-fight interview, newly-crowned IBF champion Hrgovic spoke of his desire for a bout on home soil in Croatia; where he has not fought since 2019.
As a result, Warren may next target Zagreb for a clash between Hrgovic and Sanchez, which should take place within the next six months.
Canelo Alvarez is hoping to regain one of his former super-middleweight titles at the first time of asking when he makes his comeback this October against WBC champion Christian Mbilli. Two-time welterweight ruler Shawn Porter has revealed his prediction for the fight.
Alvarez lost all four of his belts at 168lbs to Terence Crawford last September and has since been sidelined due to an elbow injuryas Crawford’s retirement saw the coronation of four new world champions.
One of those beneficiaries was Mbilli, who had been in possession of the WBC Interim crown when ‘Bud’ decided to hang up the glovesallowing him to be elevated to full champion and then lined up for a showdown with Canelo.
Canelo’s remaining quality at the age of 36 is an ongoing debate amongst fans and analysts, leading many to predict an intriguing and potentially even fight. Yet, speaking on The PorterWay Podcast‘Showtime’ said that Alvarez will look like an ‘A++ fighter’ come fight night.
“Canelo truly does have that fast twitch; he is explosive, but he is explosive with speed and quickness and that fast twitch is going to get Canelo to that mark a little bit quicker.
“Yeah, I think [he can still do it] at 36. If you think about it, even though Canelo is not that ‘A++’ fighter that he used to be, he is still a solid ‘A’ and that solid ‘A’ will beat a solid ‘B’ [in Mbilli].
“That solid ‘B’ will make a solid ‘A’ look like an ‘A++’, so I think that he is going to look ‘A++’.”
Canelo-Mbilli takes place on Saturday, October 31, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The super-middleweight duo will top a ‘Mexico vs. The World’ themed bill, which could feature a bantamweight title unification between WBA champion and pound-for-pound sensation Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez and WBO titleholder Christian Medina.
Canelo Alvarez could be ordered to enter an immediate title defence if he emerges victorious against Christian Mbilli on October 31.
The Mexican has not fought since September 2025, when he was relieved of his undisputed super-middleweight crown after losing a unanimous decision to Terence Crawford.
On that same card, Mbilli retained his WBC ‘interim’ strap following a 10-round draw against Lester Martinezmaintaining his position as one of the top contenders at 168lbs.
The Frenchman was then upgraded to full world champion in December, with Crawford having relinquished his four major titles and announced his retirement as a three-division undisputed king.
Canelo will therefore have the opportunity to reclaim one of his old belts in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with Mbilli making a first defence of his WBC title.
The winner of their showdown may then be ordered to face Martinez, as the unbeaten mandatory challenger comes off two successful defences of his WBC ‘interim’ strap.
Most recently, the 30-year-old scored a 10th-round stoppage of Luka Plantic last weekend, which followed his unanimous decision victory over Immanuwel Aleem in March.
Speaking at the post-fight presser following his win against Plantic, Martinez said through a translator that he expects to eventually face both Canelo and Mbilli.
“No, look, at the end of the day, I’ve said it before: the second fight [with Mbilli] will happen, possibly next year or the year after. But either one of those fights makes sense for us.
“We know the eyes of the world are going to be on [Mbilli-Canelo]and because we’re going to be there, we’re going to take advantage of all of that. But both fights are going to happen.”
Having already created the “blueprint” to defeat Canelo, Crawford trainer Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre said afterwards that he is supremely confident in guiding Martinez to victory against either Alvarez or Mbilli.
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