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.
Shakur, the WBC lightweight champion, will fight No. 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 he will defeat Zepeda, but Farmer has his doubts.
Zepeda size punch
He clearly knows that Stevenson's hit-and-run style won't keep Zepeda away from him because he cuts the ring well, and is willing to take shots to land. Shakur has no strength at all, and he wouldn't be able to escape from Zepeda without running.
This won't work. He will look bad against Turki Al-Sheikh if he tries this tactic against Zepeda in Riyadh.
With Zepeda's high volume output of over 100 punches per round, Farmer says Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) will have to fight him like he did in their encounter last month on November 16. Farmer (33-7-1, 8 KOs) tried to defend against Zepeda's numerous shots, but to no avail.
Farmer, the former International Boxing Federation super featherweight champion, had to fight with him, and was unable to keep up with him, especially in the championship rounds.
Zepeda wore the farmer down with body punch and size to win by 10-round split decision. The scores were 95-95, 95-94 for Zepeda, and 95-94 for Farmer. I watched the fight and had Zepeda win 8-2. It seemed that the referees involved in the fight did not take into account the numerous body shots that Zepeda was landing in each round. They were only looking at the images that Farmer focused on.
If the contest had been 12 rounds, he would have knocked out Farmer because the 34-year-old was exhausted in the ninth round and would not have been able to complete the full 12 rounds without being stopped.
“Golden Boy is ready to do it,” Tevin Farmer told Cigar Talk Channel about the rematch he wants against William Zepeda after losing to him on November 16.
“Golden Boy wants to do a rematch. I'm not saying no one told me something. I'm saying Golden Boy wants to do a rematch. I'm sure Turk wants to do it. It was a hell of a fight.
“You have to make Zepeda respect you, because if you don't, he's going to keep moving forward,” Farmer said when asked what Shakur Stevenson would do against William Zepeda.
Farmer's hopes of a rematch with Zepeda are wishful thinking as Golden Boy will not push for that fight. They know the money fight, which Zepeda needs and wants, is against Shakur. The farmer has nothing to offer Zepeda. He's not a champion and has lost his last two fights.
Farmer needs to move back to super featherweight because he lacks the ability to beat the lightweights. If he stays in the 135-pound weight class, he will still lose and be forced out of the game.
Shakur warned Zepeda
“Zepeda is a pressure fighter, he didn’t throw a lot of punches; “It's easy to differentiate someone that way,” Farmer said. “It's easy to pick someone who comes forward and doesn't throw a lot of punches. When someone comes forward and throws a lot of punches, how many punches can you make someone miss, even with my defense?
“I'm one of the best defensive fighters. I can stand there and not get hit if I want to. I know I can't do that because how many punches can I land? Yes, Shakur is going to have to fight (Zepeda). Shakur said,” Farmer said. “For me, he is one of the best in the world, but he will have to fight.”
Zepeda forced Farmer to brawl with him as he was cutting the ring and trapping him with the ropes. Either the farmer would have had to fight, or he would have been fired by Zepeda. It will be the same with Shakur. He does not have the strength, toughness, or courage of Farmer. There's no way Stevenson would have been able to hit the kind of shot that Farmer did against Zepeda without getting sacked or running and grabbing.
“I'm not saying he should do what I did. I'm built different. I have a chin, I can deliver, I can do all that. “I'm not saying he (Shakur) doesn't do it, but he's going to have to fight,” Farmer said about How he's better than Stevenson is because he'll actually stand in the pocket and be willing to trade.
“I feel like I should have gotten the win. With the knockout, that was the icing on the cake for me to get rid of. Everybody has their opinion, but I don't care,” Farmer said of his belief that he did enough to deserve the win over Zepeda.
