Seems like the reaction on the results are mixed. I thought Shakur won it clearly for landing the cleaner punches throughout over Zepeda’s ineffective offense. Who did you guys have winning?
Shakur. Zepeda showed a **** ton of volume but most shots hit the arms, gloves or were cuffing shots. Some weak jabs landed to the head too, but clean punching ? Basically gone after round 5 after he got tired, with the last bit of round 8 being the exception. Shakur on the other hand had Zepeda's head snapping back for most of the fight. Zepeda's got heart and is gutsy, but he is just too one dimensional. Never takes a step back, his use of the jab is limited, and his defence is mostly restricted to a dumb and skilless high guard with some instinctive head movement here and there. I don't think I saw a single slip from Zepeda the entire fight. He also doesn't position himself low enough when targeting the body, it's more of a slight bent of the knees, and as a result he just punches downwards, which is food for Shakur as they're easier to read, shoulder roll and counter, as Zepeda's head is exposed and in range. Zepeda's dangerous for a while, but after he gets tired he's just a one dimensional bull with no plan B and full of holes in his game.
I had it a draw but I'd have to rewatch the first 5 rounds again as I may of been a tad generous to Zepeda. But what I saw was Stevenson sitting on the ropes getting outhustled with Zepeda landing good body shots so i gave Zepeda the majority of the first 5 rounds. The fight totally turned around in the 6th round once Stevenson held the center of the ring and stayed off the ropes. And his cleaner more effective punches was clearly apparent, and I only gave Zepeda 1 round in the 2nd half of the fight as Stevenson controlled the fight from then on. I have no issues with Stevenson winning i think he did deserve to win but think it was more of a 7-5 type win rather than what the judges had it with their abysmal scorecards.
Shakur's cleaner work improved as the fight progressed, a great fight, which is rare in Shakur's case. Shakur had the better defense, while Zepeda was landing a lot of punches on arms and shoulders, but Shakur also fought the wrong fight and made it closer than it needed to be. If Shakur had any power, he would be up there towards the top end of the P4P rankings. His accuracy and technique can be incredible to watch at times, but his punches have zero impact, even when they land flush in combinations.
Shakur won clean. Anyone thinking any different is biased/doesn't know how to judge a fight. Some of you are so ridiculously biased, and not just today. I see the same stuff week after week, fight after fight. The same people who are the most biased judges always carry on at the results of close fights and claim the judges don't know what they're doing...lol. Most of you don't know **** about boxing, let alone how to correctly and fairly judge a fight.