William Zepeda, Lamont Roach to meet for vacant WBC 135 title

Agreement in place, but the date and site are not set yet

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William Zepeda and Lamont Roach Jr. will fight for the vacant WBC lightweight title stripped from Shakur Stevenson last month, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman told Fight Freaks Unite on Wednesday.

However, contrary to a variety of reports, the WBC did not order the fight between Zepeda and Roach, who rank No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the WBC’s 135-pound world rankings.

“They came to the WBC with a proposal to have No. 1 and No. 2 (fight for the title),” Sulaiman said. “They had reached a deal to fight and they came (with) the proposal with the WBC blessing it for the title.

“We did not order the fight. They came to the WBC with a proposal. So did many other others. That’s why we went to a vote (of the WBC Board of Governors) and it was ruled that this is the highest prestige, highest interest fight and we believe it’s very good for the sport.”

A date and location has not yet been determined. Roach adviser Robert Diaz told Fight Freaks Unite that now that the sides have an agreement in place and the WBC has agreed to sanction the bout they will lock in the specifics of when and will it will take place.

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In a major surprise, however, not only was WBC interim titlist Jadier Herrera not elevated to the full titleholder when Stevenson was stripped — which is typical but not a given in that situation — he was also not included as one half of a vacant title fight, which is unprecedented.

Sulaiman said a variety of fights were proposed by promoters to the WBC as a means to fill the title. One fight Sulaiman said was presented for approval for the vacant title was between Herrera (18-0, 16 KOs), 23, a Cuban southpaw fighting out of Dubai, and fellow Queensberry Promotions fighter Sam Noakes (17-1, 15 KOs), 28, of England, who sits at No. 5 in the lightweight rankings.

Herrera won the vacant interim belt by eighth-round knockout of Ricardo Nunez on Jan. 10 in Germany. Noakes is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Abdullah Mason for the vacant WBO crown in a hellacious battle in November in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“We also have a few other petitions from promoters who wanted to contest for the vacant title so we did proceed with No. 1 and No. 2,” Sulaiman said. The winner fights Herrera or the winner of Herrera if he defends (the interim title) against somebody else.”

Zepeda (33-1, 27 KOs), 29, a southpaw from Mexico, is an ultra-aggressive pressure fighter with tremendous power. He was the interim titleholder and Stevenson’s mandatory challenger when they met in a highly anticipated fight in July on a Ring magazine card in Queens, New York. Stevenson turned in one of the finest performances of his career in an entertaining but one-sided decision victory.

Former WBA junior lightweight titleholder Roach (25-1-3, 10 KOs), 30, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, is coming off back-to-back controversial draws in 2025.

Last March in Brooklyn, New York, Roach fought to a majority draw against then-WBA lightweight titlist Gervonta Davis in an extremely controversial decision many thought he clearly won despite referee Steve Willis failing to call a clear knockdown when Davis took a knee in the ninth round. It cost Roach a 10-8 round and the decision.

In his next fight in December, Roach moved up to junior welterweight and battled to an exciting majority draw with Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz challenging for his WBC interim 140-pound belt in San Antonio.

After Stevenson (25-0, 11 KOs), 28, a southpaw from Newark, New Jersey, defeated Zepeda, he moved up junior welterweight and cruised to a near-shutout against Teofimo Lopez to win the lineal and WBO titles on Jan. 31 in New York.

Stevenson still held the WBC lightweight title and may have decided to return to the division to defend the belt but when he failed to pay the required sanctioning fees for being allowed to contest a title in a different weight class for another organization, he was stripped by the WBC, resulting in a very public dispute with the organization.

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