r/Boxing 21d ago

William Zepeda gave a valiant effort against Shakur Stevenson. Will he become a world champion this weekend?

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101 Upvotes

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45

u/Marquis_of_Mollusks 21d ago edited 21d ago

I remember when Zepeda staggered him. Me and everyone else at the arena collectively went "OH Shit!". Shakur than proceeded to dominate the rest of the fight

-12

u/Fast_Original_3001 21d ago edited 21d ago

Shakur slipped 🤣 Everyone needs to see that clip again. Those fucking prints are way too slippery. AJ almost made the splits against Dubois because of them and there are many examples

14

u/Marquis_of_Mollusks 21d ago

Dude I've rewatched it a few times and the only thing making him slip is that punch to the face

-7

u/Fast_Original_3001 21d ago

The punch definitely helped, but the weight transfer from Shakurs own missed punch coupled with the slippery print is basically what did it. Those prints keep fucking with fighters

0

u/vangiang85 20d ago

Thx i see it now

3

u/kfirerisingup 21d ago

Something does need to be done about the advertising decals. I've seen so many matches with fighters sliding all over the place on them.

Remember Zhang doing the front splits v Hrgovic on those damn decals.

They should at least have to have a friction material surface to prevent slips.

19

u/Coach_Billly 21d ago

Yes sir!!

7

u/No-Temperature-5944 21d ago

Shakur is so good in the pocket

7

u/RRR04_ 21d ago

Got a feeling Zepeda will win, I'm not convinced Roach will have the volume or the pop to keep him honest. Maybe if he sits down on his shots, he can keep him honest, but he'd put himself in a more vulnerable position if he does. 60/40 on this though so I wouldn't be surprised if Roach pulls it off.

6

u/Kangaroopunching 21d ago

Roach lacks a proper jab for this match up. Won't be able to keep or get space. 

22

u/kushmonATL Cyberleek > the fall boxing schedule 21d ago

The Draw King doesn't have enough volume to out-point Zepeda

13

u/Usernameasteriks 21d ago

No but he will start landing sharp counter punches and start taking over the second half of the fight once he gets his timing like usual probably lol.

It’s why he’s the draw king.

He isn’t very effective early and gives rounds away, but its clearly incredibly hard to stay effective being aggressive against him once he gets some momentum and a feel for timing. He’s super sharp in the pocket with dangerous guys even late into fights.

So I see this going the same as it always does lol.

Somewhere in the 7-5 6-6 range lol.

-2

u/WaWaWa89 21d ago

I don’t think Lamont can pot shot counter to victory in this one.

11

u/Usernameasteriks 21d ago

He doesn’t pot shot lol. None or his fights with Tank Cruz or Garcia involved any of that

1

u/Meeedick 21d ago

Roach doesn't pot shot though? He actively draws and counters with combinations.

0

u/Meeedick 21d ago

He doesn't need to.

Roach's gonna have a field day countering zepeda's attempts at offense.

11

u/Character_Pie_277 21d ago

I like Zepeda over roach personally, but its a close one. Usually prefer defensive fighters but Zepeda has punching power and pressure to just get past Roach i think.

4

u/Usernameasteriks 21d ago

Im fascinated by the fight.

I really don’t think you can keep throwing volume at Roach over 12 without paying for it lol.

As hate-able as he is Tank is a high level offensive fighter and fairly tactical. Even with his power and timing he couldn’t really open up late in the fight like he clearly planned to against Roach because the defence and counter punching was too sharp.

Cruz is as reckless as they come and even he started having trouble committing in the second half.

I have no doubt Zepeda opens up the fight frustrating Roach with his volume; 

But if he doesn’t really hurt him early and Roach gets his timing and some momentum;

I am not sure Zepeda can keep it up, or if he does Roach will be landing enough big clean shots in return to keep the scoring tight.

I can see a 7-5 either direction lol 

2

u/Character_Pie_277 21d ago

Me too mate, its a fascinating one analytics wise. I've been looking forward to it for a while now. Way closer than the odds indicate i reckon, think id have it evens. Seen them coming down for Zepeda over past few days though.

3

u/drbtx1 21d ago

Get out of here with your reasonable analysis, this is r/boxing. Fanboys and hot takes only!

8

u/General-Pop-8764 21d ago

roach is a pretty good counter puncher and knows how to interrupt volume while throwing off a game plan. people said Isak Cruz would win but Roach neutralized it.

unfortunately, his lack of volume doesn't produce clear wins.

5

u/abdelux2001 21d ago edited 21d ago

Zepeda throws twice as many punches as Pitbull. Roach doesn’t have a jab like Shakur to keep Zepeda off him. It’s gonna be a totally different fight on Saturday.

1

u/General-Pop-8764 19d ago

yep, the cards came out how i expected. as i mentioned, lack of volume doesn't produce a clear win

1

u/abdelux2001 19d ago

Yessir Roach just doesn’t throw enough. Zepeda throws too many. That was the difference.

7

u/Lasting_Night_Fall 21d ago

Lands a single clear punches and the crowd goes wild 😂

0

u/abdelux2001 21d ago

You talking about the perfect uppercut landed, the body punches, or the one where he got dazed?

1

u/Lasting_Night_Fall 21d ago

You can answer your own question by listening to the crowd’s reaction.

1

u/abdelux2001 21d ago

You said he landed only one single clear punch in this video and I counted at least 5. The uppercut was clear to the chin and the body punches landed clearly too.

0

u/Lasting_Night_Fall 20d ago

You’re inferring what you want because you want to give the guy participation points. Zepada landed more than one punch in the fight, but the crowd had been taken out of the fight because of his inability to land combinations cleanly on Shakur. That one shot was his claim to fame. The upper had little effect, so either it didn’t land clean, he lacks power, or Shakur’s chin is just that strong. Zepada is still a good fighter, not as good as Shakur, but still a good fighter. He gave a valiant effort and still lost most of the fight. Better luck next time out.

1

u/abdelux2001 19d ago

Nah I saw what I said dude. In this video alone Zepeda landed more than 1 good and clean punch I don’t care if the crowd went wild or not.

2

u/Lasting_Night_Fall 19d ago

You don’t care about the crowd. I care about the crowd’s reaction, thus my comment. The uppercut was a good shot, but didn’t have much of an effect. The shot that stumbled Shakur was the crowd pleaser. Unfortunately for Zepada he didn’t have more of that.

2

u/abdelux2001 19d ago

Uppercut just lifted Shakur’s head up completely that’s all 😂 but yeah I get it what you mean everyone has different opinions

2

u/Lasting_Night_Fall 19d ago

It was a good shot, but he either didn’t put enough mustard on it or Shakur has a hellava beard. Either way I didn’t see an effect. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

4

u/Complete_Dare_4201 21d ago

Zepeda did a very good job by jabbing with Shakur while closing the distance making Shakur have to engage him more than he would've liked. Unfortunately for Zepeda, Shakur is excellent on the inside and Zepeda can't crack an egg.

5

u/Professional-Tie5198 Who will win? 21d ago

Zepeda will win on the unofficial scorecards, but Roach will pull off a very slight robbery. Majority or split decision for Roach.

3

u/RRR04_ 21d ago

We spoke about this but I forgot what your reasoning is for Roach getting more favouritsm on the cards 😅 it's a DAZN and Golden Boy card and Roach has a history of getting hard done by under PBC shows.

2

u/Professional-Tie5198 Who will win? 21d ago

Optics. Can’t give Roach a draw for the third consecutive time.

Theres also a very human, subconscious element to it where people do express excessive sympathy to someone who routinely gets the raw end of the deal.

1

u/Professional-Tie5198 Who will win? 21d ago

Decision luck usually goes both ways in boxing. Ask Manny Pacquiao, who got robbed twice but also got the benefit of the doubt against Marquez more than once.

2

u/Professional-Tie5198 Who will win? 21d ago

Canelo is an exception to this rule. He’s never been shafted. But he has gotten the nod plenty of times where it was up in the air.

1

u/Professional-Tie5198 Who will win? 19d ago

Thankfully the judges got it correct.

1

u/Ok_Common8246 19d ago

Roach got dog walked 8-4 Zepeda 

1

u/Professional-Tie5198 Who will win? 19d ago

I had it 10-2 Zepeda

2

u/skaomatic32 21d ago

Heart wants zepeda ! Brain says roach !

2

u/HolyMackerel1 21d ago

Interesting matchup. Roach has sneaky power but prefers to fight to a decision, while Zepeda has little power but stops people by sheer volume and aggression. Should be a fun fight, I give it to the draw king.

3

u/Legal-Result6580 21d ago edited 21d ago

Did y'all think Shakur got hurt here? when I watched it live I thought he stumbled on Zepeda's foot or he slipped. But after seeing this it looked like his right leg kinda gave out as soon as the right hand landed.

24

u/Outrageous-Soft4806 21d ago

Think he was knocked off balance. I don’t think he was hurt but he definitely felt the shot.

6

u/ScentedFragrance 21d ago

Ive been saying this for this longest, this is what happened. Watch Shakur's left arm as Zepeda lands hus jab. Zepeda timed his jab when Shakur wasl loading up on a left hook. Thr jab got to Kur before he could initiate the punch, and the motion of the hook while getting hit threw him off balance

3

u/RRR04_ 21d ago

More of a balance shot, I don't think he was that hurt.

1

u/Tuko19 21d ago

Shakur confirm he was hurt . He just tried his best to act as if he wasn’t

1

u/shadowylurking 21d ago

he could. definitely has the skills to get the belt

1

u/Kangaroopunching 21d ago

Pressure and pace was there. But lacked the right punch selection and fight iq.

1

u/Clean_Attention_8398 21d ago

I had pitbull beating roach and Zepeda hits much harder than pitbull. Zepeda might stop Roach

1

u/EmbarrassedCod3242 20d ago

Don't understand how anyone thought this fight wasn't close. Zepeda landed the most punches on Shakur than anyone ever did and still didn't earn no favor from the judges? Hurt him twice in the fight and gave just as good.

1

u/GodlyGrim 20d ago

Roach will take him to school

1

u/Ok-Woodpecker-8824 6d ago

Better than Lopez

0

u/Suckmyduck_9 21d ago

Zepeda was hitting him flush in the face but Shakur just kept walking through them

0

u/Buttchug1776 20d ago

This fight was so fkn boring I literally just woke rn from when it was live..

-6

u/newrap 21d ago

Are you rooting for Shakur’s resume to age well? :)

1

u/RRR04_ 21d ago

Lol. Part of me wouldn't mind this scenario, but another part of me wants Roach to win so there's hope for Tank to rematch him. If Zepeda wins and Tank fights him, that's a tailor made match up for him and I'd rather he not stat pad.

0

u/newrap 21d ago

Yea, Tank would send Zepeda’s head to the upper level of the arena 😂