William Zepeda will fight on March 29th in Cancun, Mexico, but not against Tevin Farmer in a rematch, as previously reported. The lightweight contender Zepeda (32-0, 27 KOs) is recovering from a hand injury and will face a yet-to-be-determined opponent.
The #1 ranked 135-lb contender Zepeda injured his left hand in his 10-round split decision win over Farmer during Turki Al-Sheikh’s Latino Night event in Riyadh on November 16th. William’s injury prevented him from challenging WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson for his title on the February 22nd card.
No Farmer Rematch
If Zepeda challenges Shakur in the summer, he needs an opponent to prepare him for his elusive style. Farmer isn’t suitable for that because he stays in the pocket and looks to have wars.
“I just asked, and they told me that Farmer would not be the March rival,” said Salvador Rodriguez on X about William Zepeda’s next fight in March. “Williamzepeda2, WBC interim champion, would be back on March 29 in Cancun.”
This news won’t make Farmer happy. He was hoping to get a rematch with Zepeda and still believes he deserved a victory in their fight last November. I watched the fight and had it 9-1 for Zepeda. The body shots he landed in every round more than made up for the small handful of headshots Farmer connected with.
The judges seemed to focus on only headshots and, for some reason, ignored the bodywork. They’re supposed to note shots to the body, but it didn’t appear that they did in this fight. Zepeda still did more than enough to win a clear decision.
If Zepeda is going to fight Shakur in the summer, he’ll need someone with a similar style. It’s too bad Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela no longer fights at lightweight because he would be perfect.
There are not many fighters in the lightweight division who can help prepare Zepeda for Shakur. Andy Cruz would be good, but that’s a very risky fight for Zepeda because he’s arguably more talented than Shakur and has much better offensive skills.
