William Zepeda needs to rest for six to eight weeks to allow his injured left hand to heal before he can start training. Lightweight contender Zepedi (32-0, 27 KOs) will not need surgery to fix the problem, which is positive news for him and his promoters at Golden Boy.
Hand injury delays title shot
Zepeda, 28, had planned to challenge Shakur Stevenson for his WBC lightweight title on February 22 at the Riyadh Season. He was replaced by #14 WBC Floyd Schofield as Stevenson’s challenger for the event. Shakur is expected to win that fight. He and Zepeda will likely meet in mid-2025 for his WBC lightweight belt.
The undefeated No. 1 contender with all four sanctioned lightweight bodies injured his left hand in his 10-round split decision victory over former IBF light heavyweight champion Tevin Farmer on November 16 in Riyadh.
Zepeda’s stronger jab was too much for the 34-year-old Farmer in their fight, and the bout looked wilder than the close scores the judges gave. Zepeda.
‘Camaron’ Zepeda connected 90 body shots compared to 45 for Farmer, and he had the former IBF 130lb champion looking worn down in the final three rounds. Had the contest gone 12 rounds, many believe Zepeda would have knocked out Farmer.
The Scores
– 95-94: Žepeda
– 95-94: Farmer
– 95-94: Žepeda
Farmer scored a blitz knockdown in the fourth round, catching ‘Camaron’ with a left hand when he was in the process of landing one of his hard punches. Zepeda got up and continued to dominate the rounds and make it look easy.
Body shots from Zepeda wore down Farmer in the second half, reducing his work rate and punching power.
Zepeda-Farmer Punch statistics
– Farmer: 194 out of 587 for 32.9%
– Žepeda: 259 out of 778 for 33.3%.
“William Zepeda will have to wait 6-8 weeks to get back in the gym after the injury he suffered against Tevin Farmer. Surgery will not be required. “Shakur Stevenson will defend against Floyd Schofield,” Salvador Rodriguez said Ks.
