WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson says the ring size doesn’t matter to him for his potential title defense against William Zepeda on February 22nd in Riyadh. Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) is confident that he’ll be victorious against Zepeda, no matter what size of the ring they fight in.
Zepeda’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions, told Shakur’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, during his Clap Back Thursday post that a condition for the event to take place is that it needs to be in a “tiny ring” to prevent “running.” De La Hoya, specifically, felt he would be the fighters running, but Shakur and Devin Haney were too likely.
Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs) still needs to win his 10-round fight against Tevin Farmer (33-6-1, 8 KOs) on November 16th in Riyadh. The event will happen if Zepeda wins that fight and the other fighters on the card agree to fight in a smaller ring on the February 22nd card.
De La Hoya didn’t say what size ring he wants, but he may want a 16-foot ring, the smallest size for a professional boxing match. With that size, it will be impossible for Shakur to run or use his three-foot step-back style to elude pressure.
If Shakur, 27, loses the fight, he’ll have something to blame it on. He can tell his fans that the ring was too small for him to move, and they’ll be sympathetic to him. Zepeda has the ability to cut off the ring no matter what size, and he’s going to be a lot of trouble for Shakur if this fight happens.
Fans are skeptical that a smaller ring will prevent Shakur from running because he’ll find a way to keep Zepeda from getting to him, even in a phone booth. One fan on social media said, “Ring size doesn’t matter. MF [Shakur] is still going to run.”
Shakur is coming off hand surgery from a training camp injury that caused the cancellation of his October 12th fight against Joe Cordina in Riyadh. He’s coming off surgery and has not looked great since moving up to the 135-lb division in 2023. Shakur has reached his ceiling for what he’s capable of doing by fighting at lightweight after campaigning successfully at 130 and 126.
Roads are closing in 😤 the ring size does not matter to me either @OscarDeLaHoya
— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) November 8, 2024
