William Zepeda given little chance to defeat Shakur Stevenson this Saturday

The oddsmakers aren’t giving William Zepeda much of a chance (to the tune of 9-1) against Shakur Stevenson this Saturday night at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York.

Zepeda comes into the fight undefeated in 33 fights, scoring 27 knockouts. The Mexican warrior is an all-volume fighter, throwing punches in bunches.

A few years ago, he was rolling, winning a clear decision over former champion Joseph Diaz, and stopping Jaime Arboleda, Mercito Gesta, Maxi Hughes, and Giovanni Cabrera.

Who could hang with Zepeda?

Enter another former champion, Tevin Farmer.

Most experts didn’t expect Farmer to trouble Zepeda. He had lost his previous fight against Raymond Muratalla. Farmer looked all of his 33 years, but against Zepeda, he was sharp and on point.

He countered the aggressive Zepeda effectively, flooring him in the opening round. The fight was extremely close, but Zepeda got the decision.

Farmer was understandably upset. They fought again four months later. Like the first fight, their styles meshed, producing a compelling 12-rounder.

The majority decision went in Zepeda’s favor.

Questions raged.

Was southpaw Farmer (like Stevenson) too clever? Or had Zepeda already hit his peak? Floyd Schofield starched Farmer in a little over a minute in his last fight.

Stevenson doesn’t care.

“He (Zepeda) can’t do nothing different,” Stevenson told Ring Magazine. “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.”

Zepeda will push Stevenson and hope the defending champion will forget about his boxing skills.

“I’m praying for him to stand there and fight with me,” Zepeda said. “That’s what I like. That’s what I want. But he hasn’t been hit by me. He hasn’t felt one of my body shots yet. So, when he does, hopefully he does stand there and fight with me. But I’m a doubter.”

Stevenson picked up a silver medal at the 2016 Olympic Games. He captured his first world title in his 13th professional fight, winning a wide decision over tough Joet Gonzalez. Two years later, Stevenson stopped Jamal Herring to win the super featherweight world title.

A dominant victory over Oscar Valdez didn’t impress many, though it should have.

Stevenson has defended his titles five times since defeating Valdez. None of his fights have been close, but the criticism has been harsh. He often looks bored – his opponents lost..

Plain speaking, Stevenson(23-0, 11 KOs) is too good. He’s excellent at setting the tone and distance.

Zepeda will have to find a way to get him out of his game.

“On July 12th, they don’t know what I’m coming to do,” Stevenson said.”I got different things to my game. I can box and move. I can stand there in the pocket and make you miss.”

All true.

Look for Stevenson to stop Zepeda before round 10.