William Cepeda solidified himself as the No. 1 contender for all four lightweight belts with his win over Giovanni Cabrera last Saturday night. Now the question is, which champion will Cepeda's promoters at Golden Boy have in store for him this year?
(Photo by Golden Boy Promotions/Chris Esqueda)
Many consider WBO 135-pound champion Dennis Belincik the easiest fight Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs) can win, but Top Rank wants to fight Keyshawn Davis against Belincik, and he could face unbeaten No. 8-ranked Mark Chamberlain next.
Given that sanctioning bodies have been sporadic in enforcing the rules, it would be futile for Cepeda to continue down that path, and if Top Rank selects Keyshawn as his next challenger, his No. 1 ranking would not be an advantage in a title fight against Belincik, which Top Rank promotes.
Berinczyk is right
“Berlincik is the right choice. Oscar De La Hoya is doing his job. He said, 'I want Tank Davis and Shakur Stevenson'. Yes, they are big names and it's a great story, but I think Berlincik is the right choice because it's a winnable fight,” Sergio Mora told DAZN Boxing when discussing who William Cepeda should target for his next fight.
“Compared to the others, I think Cepeda is the underdog. But either way, he has earned a chance at a world title. This guy is destined to fight the champion.”
There's no chance Cepeda could face any of the four champions unless the promoters wanted him to. Why would they want to? He's not popular and he creates a lot of problems, especially against a guy like Shakur who has no power and rides his bike all night.
Cepeda's output challenges
“I don't know if I would consider him an underdog compared to some of the other guys,” Chris Mannix said of William Cepeda. “I think Cepeda's performance is going to be a big problem for Tank. He's very competitive. Tank has the ability to overpower his opponents at any time.”
Cepeda will be a real challenge for any champion, but it may be a long time before he gets a shot at a title fight, and it could be a similar situation to what we've seen in the 168-pound division, where David Benavidez has been ranked No. 1 for many years but has never had the chance to challenge champion Canelo Alvarez.
“I would say the fight between Cepeda and Tank Davis is 50-50. If it happens, I think Belincik would win, but the other fighters like Tank, Lomachenko and Shakur Stevenson have to face guys who throw 100 punches a round,” Mannix said, adding that Cepeda's high activity level would make it difficult for those fighters.
The waiting game: Cepeda's uncertain future
If Cepeda doesn't mind waiting a while, he'll eventually get the chance to fight for the 135-pound belt, but who knows when that will be. If he faces WBC champion Shakur, he may need a knockout to win, as the fight will be non-stop for 12 rounds, just like his bout with Edwin de los Santos.
If that happens, the judges might give the points in Shakur's favor and ignore the pressure and hard punches that Cepeda throws, as happened in Shakur's controversial win over De Los Santos.
“Cabrera has clearly had early success. [against Zepeda]but eventually succumbed in the third round. This is a bit different to when Maxi Hughes said, “I don't want this anymore,” and didn't come out of his corner.
“By staying on his knees all the way to the 10 count, Giovanni Cabrera is basically saying, 'I can't take it anymore,'” Mannix said. “We've seen that a lot from William Cepeda's opponents.”
Cabrera appeared to quit in the third round after being knocked down by a body shot from Cepeda. He remained down until the count of nine and then tried to get up, which usually means the fighter has quit and wants to make an excuse for the loss to the fans and media.
