WBC orders William Zepeda to defend lightweight title against Jadier Herrera

The WBC has ordered lightweight champion William Zepeda to make his first defence against interim titleholder Jadier Herrera.

Golden Boy Promotions and Queensberry Promotions have until October 20 to reach an agreement before the fight is sent to a purse bid.

Zepeda, 34-1 (27 KOs), won the vacant title with a unanimous decision over Lamont Roach on August 1 at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas. The WBC had already stipulated that the winner would be required to face Herrera next.

Herrera had initially hoped to fight Zepeda for the vacant championship, but the sanctioning body instead ordered Zepeda-Roach, leaving the Cuban interim champion to wait for his opportunity.

The 24-year-old earned that status by recovering from an early knockdown to stop Ricardo Núñez in the eighth round on January 10 at the Rudolf Weber-Arena in Oberhausen, Germany.

Herrera, 18-0 (16 KOs), is now set for his first opportunity at a full world title after spending much of his Queensberry run in supporting roles on major cards.

He signed with the promoter in May 2024 and made his debut the following month in Belfast, stopping Andres Navarrete in the first round on a show headlined by Pierce O’Leary’s WBC International title defence against Darragh Foley.

Herrera then stopped Oliver Flores in three rounds on the October 2024 Liverpool card topped by Nick Ball’s first WBA featherweight title defence against Ronny Rios. He returned to the same city the following March and stopped Jose Macias Enriquez in the seventh round on Ball’s second defence against TJ Doheny.

His fourth appearance for Queensberry brought another step up. Herrera travelled to Germany to face Núñez for the interim WBC title on the Agit Kabayel-Damian Knyba heavyweight card and responded to an early knockdown by taking control and forcing an eighth-round stoppage.

Having developed largely beneath established headliners, Herrera could now be about to move centre stage himself.

Herrera is the grandson of Ángel Herrera, the Cuban who won Olympic gold medals at Montreal 1976 and Moscow 1980. He turned professional in Dubai in July 2021 before becoming a regular on Queensberry shows in Britain and Germany.

Zepeda had been linked with other leading names following his victory over Roach, including a possible rematch with Shakur Stevenson and a unification with WBO champion Abdullah Mason.

Mason had already welcomed the prospect of a unification after stopping Albert Bell in the 12th round on July 4 in Cleveland. He subsequently described a fight with Zepeda as potentially “career-defining”.

Zepeda himself previously held the WBC interim title. He won it by split decision against former IBF champion Tevin Farmer in Riyadh in November 2024, recovering from the first knockdown of his career to edge a close fight. He then retained the belt in an immediate rematch with Farmer in Cancún the following March, this time winning by majority decision.

That interim reign led directly to Zepeda’s first full-title opportunity against Stevenson. Stevenson handed him his only professional defeat, earning a unanimous decision in their July 2025 WBC lightweight title fight at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York.

Stevenson’s reign ended around six months later when the WBC stripped him after he declined to pay a six-figure sanctioning fee connected to his move up to junior welterweight. He subsequently outpointed Teofimo Lopez at Madison Square Garden on January 31 to win The Ring and WBO titles and become a four-division champion.

His departure created the lightweight vacancy eventually filled by Zepeda, with Herrera retaining his place as the first mandatory challenger to the new champion.

Golden Boy and Queensberry have until October 20 to agree terms. If they do not, the WBC will hold a purse bid.