Following the pre-fight press conference in New York, Shakur Stevenson maintained a serious and professional demeanor during his faceoff with upcoming opponent William Zepeda.
Stevenson is set to defend his WBC lightweight title in the main event of the fight card taking place in New York City on July 12.
The undefeated 27-year-old fighter from New Jersey is aiming for another strong performance with the hope that a victory will pave the way for even bigger fights in the future. Standing opposite him is William Zepeda, who brings an impressive 33-0 record and became the interim WBC lightweight champion last November with a win over Tevin Farmer. Zepeda is equally focused on securing a significant victory.
In contrast, the staredown for the co-main event was noticeably more intense, featuring the consistently animated Edgar Berlanga. He did his best to provoke Hamzah Sheeraz when the two faced off closely on stage.
Berlanga repeatedly mimicked firing a gun with his hand gestures towards Sheeraz. When this didn`t elicit a strong enough reaction, he escalated his actions, simulating a machine gun assault akin to a scene from a movie like *Scarface*.
Despite the heated confrontation, the faceoff did not become physical, as security personnel quickly intervened to separate the fighters before any altercation could occur.
Marcus Blakely