Shakur Stevenson and William Zepeda continued with their signature work in the boxing ring Saturday night, and what’s becoming clear is that the pair are best suited to fight each other next.
In Monday’s episode of ProBox TV’s “Deep Waters,” analyst Chris Algieri said the current situations of each fighter leaves them looking for a dance partner, peering squarely at the other.
Three-division and WBC lightweight champion Stevenson (22-0) just disposed of challenger Artem Harutyunyan in New Jersey to complete his contract with promoter Top Rank, which signed him out of the 2016 Olympics.
As Top Rank is engaged with Premier Boxing Champions to make a unification between IBF champion Vasiliy Lomachenko and WBA champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis by year’s end, Stevenson, 27, is deprived of a unification possibility.
Mexico’s Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs), ranked as No. 1 lightweight contender by all four sanctioning bodies, similarly appears out of luck in his pursuit of a belt against new WBO 135-pound champion Denys Berinchyk.
While Zepeda promoter Oscar De La Hoya said he wants to target Berinchyk first for Zepeda, Top Rank officials told BoxingScene that possibility is “doubtful” and said they have other plans for Berinchyk, including an opening to land on the Dec. 21 Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury II card in Saudi Arabia.
Top Rank Chairman Bob Arum is pointing his unbeaten 2020 Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn Davis toward Berinchyk.
So, when Zepeda, after knocking out Giovanni Cabrera in the third round, said in the Ontario, Calif., ring Saturday night that he would travel to war-torn Ukraine to fight Berinchyk, Algieri responded, “He’s got no choice.
“For him to get any of these (title) fights, he’s going to have to take super-short money and fight (these champions) in their living rooms – every short stick possible,” Algieri cracked.
“There’s no reason for these other promoters to give (Zepeda) a shot. He’s good. He’s tough. Why give him a title? De La Hoya says he wants Berinchyk. So does every other lightweight (contender).”
That’s why a match with Stevenson makes sense.
While Stevenson has had fans walk out early from his past two fights because of a lack of activity, a bout with the fiercely aggressive Zepeda would give Stevenson the opportunity to show how his sensational skill can defuse a killer puncher.
“(Stevenson) looked good (Saturday). He completely shut down Artem … he’s just not a finisher, not a knockout guy,” Algieri said.
“He’s got a (public relations) problem. He’s his own P.R., and he tells people he’s going to knock people out.
“That’s not you, man. Just completely disarm these guys and be the brilliant boxer you are.”
Algieri likens Stevenson to the late former pound-for-pound king Pernell “Sweet Pea” Whitaker, who made no apologies for low knockout numbers while taking pride that, “you can’t touch me, hurt me, make my nose bleed or barely make me break a sweat.”
With Stevenson, said Algieri, his knockout vows elicit “snooze this, snooze that” criticism from his fans and reporters.
“A boxing purist like me, I like,” Stevenson’s fighting style, Algieri said. “But everyone else looking for him to beat this guy’s ass, they’re going to be left longing.”
Now that he’s a free agent, Stevenson might be wise to turn to all-action Zepeda.
And since Zepeda has nowhere else to go for a belt, he should embrace the challenge – as complex as it is and as difficult as it will be to wrest the belt from him.
“Shakur is the champion,” “Deep Waters” analyst and Hall of Fame fighter Timothy Bradley Jr. emphasized, to which fellow analyst Paulie Malignaggi responded, “If a guy wants to be a champion, Shakur isn’t the guy who’s going to make them a champion.”
For now, though, he may be the only way to try.