Shakur Stevenson noticed something strategic Tevin Farmer did during his two fights with William Zepeda that helped the former IBF junior lightweight champion succeed.

Stevenson wouldn’t divulge that “secret” as he prepares for their 12-round lightweight title fight July 12 at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York. The aggressive Zepeda, meanwhile, knows he must get off to a faster start versus Stevenson than when he first fought Farmer on November 16 at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Zepeda (33-0, 27 KOs) is motivated to prove his first performance against Farmer was attributable to getting off to a slow start and making adjustments later than he should have done during a fight he won by split decision. In Stevenson (23-0, 11 KOs), the interim WBC lightweight champ will encounter another left-handed opponent, yet a younger, unbeaten technician who will be more difficult to hit flush than Farmer when they fight for Stevenson’s WBC lightweight title as part of The Ring’s pay-per-view show next month.

Last fight: Defeated Farmer by majority decision in their 12-round rematch March 29 at Poliforum Benito Juarez in Cancun, Mexico.

Odds: A +550 betting underdog against Stevenson (-1000), according to DraftKings.

How does Zepeda win: Zepeda must cut off the ring and force Stevenson into exchanges. The last strong southpaw Stevenson fought, Edwin De Los Santos, couldn’t do that and lost an unremarkable unanimous decision in November 2023 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Zepeda’s persistent pressure and high volume of punches figure to make this fight challenging for Stevenson, one of the most effective defensive fighters in boxing.

What it means if he wins: A victory over Stevenson would validate Zepeda as one of boxing’s elite lightweights. His fan-friendly style has made him fun to watch, but he hasn’t beaten an opponent as skillful as Stevenson and struggling with Farmer, particularly in their first fight, has created doubt about whether he can.

What they’re saying: “He can’t do nothing different. He can sit here and act like, ‘Oh, I got a Plan B, plan C, plan D, blah, blah, blah.’ He can’t do nothing different. There’s one thing that he’s coming to do. He’s coming in there to throw as many punches as possible, overwhelm me, make me tired and, you know, try to bully me. And I’m not gonna let that happen.” – Shakur Stevenson.

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