Shakur Willing To Ditch Zepeda For The Tank Fight
Shakur Stevenson is willing to drop a fight against William Zepeda in order to secure a Tank Davis bout.
The WBC recently ordered Shakur to defend his lightweight title against Zepeda. They have until May 6 to agree a deal as then purse bids will be ordered. The duo have been linked with a fight for some time. They were expected to face each other before their last fights. However, those plans were derailed after Zepeda had to pull out of a prospective fight with a hand injury. Shakur moved on as he chose to box Josh Padley, stopping his opponent in the ninth round to retain his WBC belt.
Meanwhile, Zepeda secured a decision win over Tevin Farmer to beat his man for the second time. Now, the conditions are right for a Shakur-Zepeda fight. However, Shakur is willing to move past that if he can face Tank next. Davis secured a controversial majority draw in his last fight against Lamont Roach Jr. to retain his WBA lightweight title.
Most in the boxing community felt Roch had been deprived of a win following a controversial call by the referee in the ninth round. Tank took a knee voluntarily before going to his corner to wipe some grease from his face. The referee should have counted it as a 10-8 round. His failure to do so meant that Roach was prevented from winning a decision on the cards. Roach’s team appealed to the New York State Athletic Commission to get the result overturned. However, the Commission did not make any changes as they upheld the first ruling.
Will It Happen?
“The bout continued for more than three full rounds after the referee’s no knockdown call, and because the boxers necessarily adjusted to the referee’s ruling, the referee’s call was not outcome-determinative. Following an extensive after-the-fact review of the footage of the ninth round, that the most appropriate call … would have been for the referee to determine that Mr. Davis’ knee contacting the canvas constituted a knockdown. However, the determination of whether a knockdown occurred in that instance was within the discretion and authority of the referee. Such conjecture would be misplaced, and setting such a precedent is not viewed by the commission as guaranteeing a correct outcome retroactively or as in keeping with the best interest of boxing,” NYSAC statement
That has created the narrative for a rematch, putting pressure on Davis to take the fight to quell the criticism he has faced. If that fight does go ahead, then it means Shakur is unlikely to face Tank anytime soon. However, Shakur has put the ball in Tank’s court by telling him he wants the fight.
“If I could happen next, I’d take Tank, but the fight that already presented itself is Zepeda. If Tank says, ‘Let’s fight,’ I’ll drop that s***, and we can rumble. But if he’s got something else going on, I’ll rumble with Zepeda,” Shakur said
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