Shakur Stevenson-Joe Cordina Announced For Oct. 12 Riyadh Season Show; William Zepeda Mandatory Still Looms

Shakur Stevenson and the Riyadh Season group have moved on to the next order of business.

Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, released the full undercard for the Oct. 12 Riyadh Season show. Stevenson is scheduled to next face former IBF 130-pound titlist Joe Cordina in the co-feature.

The event will take place at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Headlining the show is the already announced and rescheduled Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol RING/undisputed light heavyweight championship.

All reports indicate that Stevenson, The Ring’s No. 4-rated lightweight, will attempt the second defense of his WBC 135-pound title. There are various reports as to why Mexico’s William Zepeda, No. 3 at 135 by The Ring, won’t be next.

So, here’s one more—and it doesn’t yet leave Stevenson (22-0, 10 knockouts) off the hook.

A purse bid hearing previously scheduled for Tuesday was postponed as the WBC office was closed. All staff members attended a funeral service held for Dona Martha Saldivar Sulaiman, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman’s mother who passed away on Tuesday.

Three sources directly involved with talks informed The Ring that Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs) has not yet stepped aside as mandatory challenger. That stance was taken both before and after Alalshikh’s post on Tuesday.

They also come amidst wild claims on social media channelsthat Raymond Muratalla (21-0, 16 KOs) would be up next. Those rumors swirled after a cryptic post from trainer Robert Garcia’s account on X.

“Got word it was about the purse bid today for Shakur Zepeda. We’ll be ready @ShakurStevenson.”

Got word it was about the purse bid today for Shakur Zepeda. We’ll be ready @ShakurStevenson

— Robert Garcia Boxing (@GarciaBoxing) August 20, 2024

The account later clarified that Muratalla is “next in line and we [aren’t] turning that down” if Zepeda steps aside.”

Zepeda is the No. 1-rated lightweight among all four major sanctioning bodies. The southpaw from San Mateo Atenco, Mexico became the WBA and IBF’s top contender after a fifth-round knockout of Maxi Hughes in Las Vegas. He was already No. 1 with the WBC and advanced to the top spot with the WBO.

Stevenson seemed ready to move on ever since talks surfaced of a possible title defense versus Wales’ Cordina (17-1, 9 KOs). The unbeaten three-division titleholder is now a promotional free agent, though mainly working with Matchroom Boxing. He also met directly with Alalshikh, first at the Aug. 3 U.S. launch of the Riyadh Season boxing series. They’ve met again in the two-plus weeks that followed, to where Alalshikh felt comfortable to announce the full Oct. 12 lineup.

Alalshikh has done this before, in fact with nearly every Riyadh Season boxing event reveal. There were two previous occasions where a title fight was announced before confirmation that it was approved by a sanctioning body.

RING cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia (25-0, 19 KOs) landed on the Dec. 21 undercard in a title defense versus Ellis Zorro. The fight was revealed despite his already ordered IBF mandatory defense versus former champion Mairis Briedis (28-3, 20 KOs). A purse bid hearing for that rematch was ultimately canceled, though the matter wasn’t fully resolved.

Opetaia was ultimately relieved of the belt once he went through with the Zorro fight, whom he knocked out in the first round of a gross mismatch. The IBF belt landed back in his possession after he outpointed Briedis on the May 18 Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury undercard.

Both fights took place at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh. Opetaia will return on the Oct. 12 Riyadh Season show versus England’s Jack ‘One Smack’ Massey (22-2, 12 KOs).

Riyadh Season’s UK launch is set for Sept. 21, headlined by the Daniel Dubois-Anthony Joshua IBF heavyweight title fight. Recently crowned IBF 130-pound titlist Anthony Cacace (22-1, 8 KOs) is due to face former two-time featherweight titlist Josh Warrington (31-3-1, 8 KOs). The fight was gleefully revealed by Alalshikh despite never getting clearance from the IBF.

The Ring has learned that the IBF has yet to sanction the fight.

Belfast’s Cacace remains on the hook to face mandatory challenger Eduardo “Sugar” Nunez (26-1, 26 KOs) and could be stripped of the title if he moves forward with the Warrington fight. Warrington is not ranked in the IBF Top 15, either at 130 or at featherweight where he twice held the sanctioning body’s title. The 33-year-old from Leeds suffered back-to-back defeats, has not won since March 2022 and has yet to fight at junior lightweight.

Of course, money talks. It’s why the Riyadh Season logo is now splatted across events featuring Queensberry Promotions, Matchroom Boxing, Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank.

Zepeda is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions. Stevenson became a promotional free agent after a seven-year run with Top Rank. Their deal expired after his July 6 win over Artem Harutyunyan (12-2, 7 KOs) in Newark, New Jersey.

Stevenson claimed the WBC 130-pound title in a twelve-round points win over Edwin De Los Santos last Nov. 11 in Las Vegas. The 2016 Olympic Silver medalist previously held titles at 126 and 130, the latter where he was also The Ring champion.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for The Ring.

Follow @JakeNDaBox

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