It’s showtime for Shakur Stevenson again! The WBC lightweight champion has been ordered by the WBC on Monday to make a mandatory defense against William Zepeda, who is the number one contender on the rankings for all four sanctioning bodies—meaning he can pursue a fight against any of the lightweight title holders.
As per various reports, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman has revealed that the organization has given both parties until 20th August to finalize a deal or there will be a purse bid of 70-30 in Stevenson’s favor. Meanwhile, boxing journalist and co-host of the 3 Knockdown Rule podcast, Steve Kim seems to have pointed out some issues with the probable purse bid for a fight between the two.
Shakur Stevenson vs. William Zepeda: a $5 million purse bid?
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According to Steve Kim, Oscar De La Hoya doesn’t seem all that interested in setting up the Stevenson vs. Zepeda fight. Apparently, he’s checking out other possibilities for his boxer instead. And get this—on July 12th, the head honcho of Golden Boy Promotions tweeted that they’d only go ahead with the fight if Stevenson officially signed with his promotion.
Anyway, Kim was guessing about this fight happening, saying if they split the purse 75-25 and if some promoter throws in say $5 million, which Kim figures is about right for the bidding process, then Stevenson would pocket $3.75 million and Zepeda would take home $1.25 million. But, in reality, if they go with a 70-30 split, Stevenson gets $3.5 million and Zepeda walks away with $1.5 million.
By the way, Top Rank had already put out an offer of a $15 million five-fight extension for Stevenson, which breaks down to $3 million per fight. So, this purse bid would actually be way more than what Stevenson would’ve received from Top Rank. However, Kim was bewildered with the thought of, “Should Stevenson-Zepeda be a PPV, who would be willing to guarantee that amount in this current market? Does this fight even crack 150,000 buys?”
It’s clear that Golden Boy/Oscar wants to go in another direction with William Zepeda, rather than face Shakur Stevenson next. But here’s a scenario:
If it’s close to the standard 75-25 split, and someone bids close to $5 million, that means Stevenson would be entitled to $3.75…
— Steve Kim (Pres. of the Elija Lofton Fan Club) (@SteveKim323) July 16, 2024
As per Nielsen research, the Stevenson vs. Artem Harutyunyan fight viewership peaked at 1,254,000, meaning the Stevenson vs. Zepeda fight could also sell around the same amount or slightly more. However, it is difficult for any promoter to guarantee a huge amount to a boxer if they can’t make it back on fight night. So for the duo of Stevenson and De La Hoya, the conundrum only deepens.
While De La Hoya is iffy about the Stevenson fight, even though it would make his boxer the most money, Stevenson seems open to every challenge thrown his way.
Stevenson hopes his future promoter has their dates ready for him
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Fresh off his victory over Artem Harutyunyan on July 6th, Shakur Stevenson is again under scrutiny for his action-less fight. However, that hasn’t deterred the WBC champion from wanting to defend his title for the second time since acquiring it against Edwin De Los Santos last year.
I’m hoping whoever I do sign wit have dates ready to go cause I’m ready to get back in the ring asap I promise to give a better performance every time out 😤 #ChasingGreatness
— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) July 15, 2024
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While the Zepeda fight is up in the air, Stevenson seems ready for anyone. In a tweet a couple of days ago, the Newark native wrote, “I’m hoping whoever I do sign wit have dates ready to go cause I’m ready to get back in the ring asap I promise to give a better performance every time out #ChasingGreatness.”
Despite what the prevailing sentiment is, Shakur Stevenson has time and time again proven that he has the potential to draw good enough pay-per-view numbers—perhaps the William Zepeda fight is what it will take. Would you buy the PPV for this potential fight?
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