“William Zepeda is coming for you, baby…he’s coming for you,” that’s what Oscar De la Hoya said on the fight night. The warning shots from the ‘Golden Boy’ couldn’t have been far off the cliff. Despite no title, his charge has in fact displaced a three-division to make into the ring magazine’s top lightweights. Of course there’s no way to usurp the reigning king, Gervonta Davis. In spite of a year-long recess, he busted ‘The Ghost’ in the eighth round of a thriller at MGM Grand last month.

The Ring magazine’s latest revelation is sure to surprise many heads. Not because known names haven’t made it to the list. But because there’s a new kid on the block. With his third-round knockout of Giovanni Cabrera, the ‘Camaron’ literally fired up heads-up rounds. Gervonta Davis, Shakur Stevenson, or, for that matter, any title holder, is now in the Mexican heavy-hitter’s crosshairs. Any takers for the challenge?

Ranking Shake Ups: Gervonta Davis still tops

So according to Ring magazine’s ‘UPDATED Lightweight Division 135’ list, Gervonta Davis stays the top dog of the division. Coming on the back of his third career loss, with an eleventh round destruction of George Kambosos Jr., Vasyl Lomachenko announced that his boxing is far from over, as many might love thinking.

But it is the third place that might have come off as a shocker to many fans. Knocking out of place not one but two reigning title holders, its the non-tile holder William Zepeda. The century-old magazine now considers him the third best lightweight boxer in the world.

After the Ryan Garcia fight, Gervonta Davis went on a break, though not always out of the limelight. Amidst a bitter online feud with his former promoter and mentor Floyd Mayweather Jr., a few entertained the idea of Frank Martin having a chance against ‘Tank’. typical of his previous fights, the Baltimorean started off slowly. But towards the middle rounds, he changed the game, going after the Detroit-born Southpaw with relentless combinations. Finally, the latter had his full as he submitted halfway in the eight round.

Is it on account of Shakur Stevenson not securing an early stoppage once again? In the last two years, the only time the Newark-born Southpaw has been able to secure a knockout was during his lightweight debut against Shuichiro Yoshino.

But there’s a Mexican surprise; a contender outranks a champion?

After the much-criticized Edwin De Los Santos fight, which made him a third-time world champion, it appeared that the Rio Olympics silver medalist would go all out against Artem Harutyunyan. Only the Armenian-German boxer managed to take him the whole distance.

Boxing insider Rick Glaser had an interesting observation. He mentioned that all four sanctioning bodies—the WBA, WBC, WBO, and IBF—had put William Zepeda as their numero uno ranked contender. To all appearances, the ‘Camaron’ proved them right by dusting off Cabrera’s challenge. The Seattle-born boxer made a name for himself by allowing Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz a split decision victory during the face-off.

Calling Zepeda a ‘new force in the light division,’ Rick Glaser subsequently lauded the ‘idea’ of staging his fight alongside Shakur Stevenson’s title defense. “Was a great idea that the #GoldenBoy Excutives had, feature #WilliamZepeda on #DAZN the same night as #ShakurStevenson was fighting on #ESPN and let everyone judge for themselves who you would rather watch going forward.“

In fact, he went to the extent of claiming that William Zepeda ‘clearly won that battle’. Not that many agree with his views, but for sure the commotion seems to have caught Stevenson’s attention too. Reacting to a post that featured his photo alongside Zepeda’s Newark-born southpaw, he said, “Been waiting on it; let’s see how much of a killer he really is.“

Overall, the lightweight division is brimming with immense talents. As of now, none seem to be matching the level and scale of Gervonta Davis’ abilities. However, the second rung offers an exciting array of line-ups, undoubtedly. the caution, don’t ignore the remaining five completely.

What’s your take on the ring magazine’s lightweight rankings?