Shakur Stevenson has been urged to face a “bigger and stronger” version of William Zepeda, who arguably gave the slick southpaw his toughest fight in July 2025.
Still, Stevenson emerged with a unanimous decision victory but, sure enough, was made to work tremendously hard in each of their 12 rounds.
This year, the unbeaten American moved up to 140lbs and became a four-division world champion, dethroning Teofimo Lopez with a near whitewash in January.
But despite holding the WBO super-lightweight title, Stevenson has expressed an openness to face opponents in either his current division or back down at 135lbs.
Either way, the 29-year-old is expected to make his Zuffa Boxing debut before long, having signed a multi-fight deal with Dana White’s promotional outfit.
In terms of potential opponents, top trainer Robert Garcia has suggested Raymond Muratalla, who defended his IBF lightweight title with a unanimous decision victory over Robson Conceicao earlier this month.
With the 29-year-old now looking to campaign at 140lbs, though, Garcia has told FightHype that, besides Devin Haney, he believes his unbeaten charge represents the most obvious option for Stevenson.
“If [the Haney fight] doesn’t happen, what other fight is there [for Stevenson]? I think Raymond is the perfect [opponent] – great [clash of] styles.
“I think Raymond is much bigger and much stronger than Zepeda. If Shakur gets the Haney fight, we can’t argue. We can’t say he’s ducking [Muratalla].
“But if he’s saying [the Muratalla fight] has to be at 135[lbs], then he’s ducking a little bit.”
While there has been loose talk of a clash between Stevenson and Haney, it would seem that the WBO welterweight champion is currently targeting a unification match with Liam Paro.
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