Shakur Stevenson vs William Zepeda: Style and power - who has the edge?

When it comes to ring generalship and dictating the pace and flow of a fight with control, Shakur Stevenson is one of the best that boxing has to offer.

The undefeated WBC lightweight world champion will put his title on the line against unbeaten challenger William Zepeda at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Corona, Queens, New York City, and live on DAZN PPV, on Saturday night.

 

Stevenson (23-0, 11 KOs) last produced a ninth-round TKO of Josh Padley in February to record his second title defense.

Meanwhile, Zepeda is coming off back-to-back points wins over Tevin Farmer with the first via split decision in November followed by the majority decision he delivered in March.

With the stakes high, DAZN News' Mark Lelinwalla analyzes who has the edge between the champion and challenger heading into this fight.

Boxing Styles

Masterful at planting his lead foot into the canvas and controlling the distance, Shakur Stevenson is absolutely brilliant working behind the jab, the anchor to his supreme sweet science.

On the defensive side, Stevenson is slick and elusive, relying on the hit and don’t get hit brand of boxing.

He has the boxing skills to negate Zepeda’s forward fighting and imposing power especially if the Mexican fighter struggles to get inside of Stevenson’s world-class jab, arguably the best in all of boxing.

That a 34-year-old Tevin Farmer used his own sweet science skills to have two very close fights with Zepeda does not bode well for the challenger against Stevenson.

Edge: Stevenson

 

Power

Zepeda counts 27 of his 33 victories by knockout, demonstrating his power and relentless aggression.

Stevenson, despite battling issues with his hands, perhaps has more power than fans and critics alike give him credit for with nearly half of his wins coming by the way of knockout.

Still, Zepeda’s bullish power gives him the edge here by a healthy margin.

Edge: Zepeda

Mental Warfare

Shakur Stevenson carries the confidence that he is the best in the world with the arguable pound-for-pound best in Terence Crawford as his stablemate and measure of steel sharpening steel.

Stevenson's undefeated record presides over the noise of any criticism as the Newark, New Jersey product continues to etch his growing fighting legacy.

 

That, and Zepeda after two questionable performances against Farmer has more pressure to uphold his unblemished record.

Doing it against a top-tier sweet scientist in Stevenson is a tough prospect.

Edge: Stevenson

Who has the edge in Stevenson vs Zepeda?

Shakur Stevenson certainly has all the skills to negate and silence the power of Zepeda and he can do it by picking apart the Mexican fighter, proving there are indeed levels to boxing.

DAZN News Mark Lelinwalla has Stevenson with a 2-1 edge entering this bout as the poised WBC lightweight world champion looks to deliver a statement victory en route to a bigger fight ahead.

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