It’s been non-stop highs for Shakur Stevenson since he turned professional in 2017. The unbeaten ring maestro who was born in New Jersey returns to action at the Louis Armstrong Stadium in New York on July 12, as he makes the third defence of his WBC lightweight crown against the talented Mexican, William Zepeda. It’s set to be one of Stevenson’s toughest tests to date and one that you won’t want to miss.
Stevenson loves adding trinkets to his bulging trophy cabinet. As well as picking up the silver medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, he’s won world title belts at three different weights. He kicked off his belt collection by beating Joet Gonzalez in 2019 to claim the WBO featherweight title. He would strap on the WBO super featherweight belt two years later after stopping Jamel Herring at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. Stevenson moved up divisions yet again in 2022 and secured his current WBC lightweight crown in 2023, following a unanimous decision success against Edwin De Los Santos.
Stevenson supporters will be hoping for a more polished performance from their man in New York this time around. Last time we saw him throwing punches in anger, he claimed a lacklustre 9th-round win in Riyadh over Britain’s Josh Padley. Padley had only agreed to the assignment several days before the fight, with the original opponent, Floyd Schofield, taken ill.
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William Zepeda will be primed and ready for the biggest night of his life. Like Stevenson, the hard-hitting Mexican heads to the Big Apple with a flawless record to his name. He’s been climbing the lightweight ladder since entering the pro ranks in 2015 and now gets his first shot at a world title belt.
While Zepeda may have been taken the distance by Tevin Farmer in both of their recent encounters last November and then again in March this year, the boxer known as ‘Camaron’ (or shrimp) is renowned for his punch power and has stopped over 80% of his previous ring rivals. It’s a quality that has not gone unnoticed by Stevenson. “I’m fighting against the beast in the division, a punching machine like no one else”, he commented.
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Zepeda is not the type of opponent that Stevenson is accustomed to fighting. The American has been feasting on low-output fighters, and the Mexican star could never be placed in that bracket. In Zepeda’s last bout against Farmer, he threw 974 punches, averaging an astonishing 81+ punches per round.
Although Stevenson's title defence against Zepeda will be treated as the feature contest on ‘The Ring Magazine 3’ card, it will be the unmissable WBC super middleweight title eliminator between Edgar Berlanga and Hamzah Sheeraz that will close the show. That’s not all, either, as another unbeaten champion in the shape of Alberto Puello defends his WBC super lightweight crown in an all-Caribbean clash with Subriel Matias.
Let GOAL assist you with all the vital pre-fight info you require for Stevenson vs Zepeda, including the tale of the tape, info on when and where the event is taking place and how you can watch the boxing bonanza live.
When will Shakur Stevenson vs William Zepeda take place?
| Date | Saturday, July 12 |
| Location | Louis Armstrong Stadium, Queens, New York, USA |
| Start time | DAZN’s coverage of the main card starts at 8 pm ET / 1 am BST (Sunday) |
| Main event ring walks | 11 pm ET / 4 am BST (Sunday) |
Louis Armstrong Stadium is famed for being a 14,000+ seat tennis arena within the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre complex in New York City, which stages the US Open every year. It opened for the 2018 edition of the tournament as a replacement for the 1978 stadium of the same name and has a retractable roof. It is named after jazz musician Louis Armstrong, who lived nearby until he died in 1971. The stadium has two levels: The lower bowl, which has 6,400 seats and the cantilevered upper bowl, which has over 7,000 seats. This will be the first ever boxing event staged at the venue.
How to watch Shakur Stevenson vs William Zepeda
Shakur Stevenson vs William Zepeda will be shown live on DAZN PPV in over 200 countries globally. It’s priced at £24.99 in the UK and $59.99 in the US. Buying a PPV fight with DAZN also provides 7 days of free access to the entire DAZN platform.
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Shakur Stevenson vs William Zepeda Fight Card
| Weight class | Fight |
|---|---|
| Lightweight (WBC title) | Shakur Stevenson vs William Zepeda |
| Super middleweight | Hamzah Sheeraz vs Edgar Berlanga |
| Super lightweight (WBC title) | Alberto Puello vs Subriel Matias |
| Light heavyweight | David Morrell vs Imam Khataev |
Shakur Stevenson professional boxing stats
- Age: 28
- Height: 5' 7" / 170 cm
- Reach: 68.1" / 173 cm
- Total fights: 23
- Record: 23-0-0
- % wins by KO/TKO: 48
William Zepeda professional boxing stats
- Age: 29
- Height: 5' 9" / 175 cm
- Reach: 69.7" / 177 cm
- Total fights: 33
- Record: 33-0-0
- % wins by KO/TKO: 82