NEW YORK — Shakur Stevenson is completely confident that he’ll defeat William Zepeda in impressive fashion July 12.

The unbeaten WBC lightweight champion isn’t nearly as sure that the high-profile fight he wants after he opposes Zepeda will still be available to him five weeks later. Stevenson told The Ring he envisions Gervonta Davis having as much difficulty with Lamont Roach in their immediate rematch Aug. 16 as the left-handed knockout artist did during their first WBA lightweight championship match March 1.

Davis (30-0-1, 28 KOs) and Roach (25-1-2, 10 KOs) fought to an infamous majority draw at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Baltimore’s Davis was a 16-1 favorite, according to DraftKings, to beat an amateur rival who moved up from the junior lightweight division for their Premier Boxing Champions pay-per-view main event 2½ months ago.

Had referee Steve Willis counted a knockdown when Davis took a knee early in the ninth round, Davis would’ve lost a decision to Roach.

A couple seconds after he took a knee, Davis was assisted by one of his trainers, Calvin Ford, who wiped away a substance that got into his eyes and blurred his vision. Willis, who didn't call for a break in the action, would’ve then been within his right to disqualify Davis for in effect calling a timeout.

Stevenson, a three-division champion from Newark, New Jersey, was one of the few fighters who believed Roach would be a difficult matchup in what was widely viewed as a fight to keep Davis busy. In fact, Stevenson said he placed a significant wager on their fight going the distance and won approximately $25,000.

Though Stevenson likes Roach, he wants Davis to win their rematch because the 30-year-old is one of boxing’s biggest stars and represents the most profitable option for his 24th professional fight.

“I would love that fight to happen,” Stevenson told The Ring, “but I’m not a guy that’s just like everybody else, like, ‘Oh, it’s a rematch and he’s just going in there and he’s gonna knock this guy out.’ Or, ‘He gonna make it so much easier.’ I don’t look at it like that. I know that Lamont Roach has been waiting on this opportunity his entire life. I been in the ring with Lamont Roach. I been in the gym with Lamont Roach. I know who Lamont Roach is. I went and bet money on that fight because I knew Lamont Roach wasn’t gonna get a decision, so I bet on the fight going the distance.”

Despite Roach’s success in their first fight, Davis, The Ring’s No. 1-ranked lightweight contender, opened as a 6-1 favorite to win their rematch according to FanDuel. Stevenson, rated third by The Ring in the 135-pound division, again disagrees with much of the public’s perception of their 12-round rematch.

“When it’s a rematch I don’t look at it like everybody else,” Stevenson said. “I know what Tank is dealing with, so Tank is gonna have to be on a hundred percent of his best and beyond. Because he can’t just be his best, he gotta be better than whatever he was the last time. And for him to win that fight, it’s gonna be a very difficult fight.

“I know that me and Tank is the big fight, so it worries me in the fact that I don’t get my opportunity to fight him as an undefeated fighter with Lamont Roach in front of him. But we’ll see. Maybe he do go in there and make it an easy fight. I know it’s some things he can work on.”

Stevenson (23-0, 11 KOs) does agree with FanDuel’s odds on his fight with Mexico’s Zepeda (33-0, 27 KOs), which favor him by a 14-1 margin. The 2016 Olympic silver medalist will defend his WBC 135-pound championship for the third time against Zepeda in one of four fights featured on The Ring’s pay-per-view show July 12 at Louis Armstrong Stadium, a tennis venue in Queens.