William Zepeda is back in Shakur Stevenson’s sights.

The Ring has confirmed that the WBC has ordered the two sides to enter talks for a mandatory title fight. Stevenson (22-0, 10 knockouts) currently holds the WBC 135-pound belt. Mexico’s Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs) is the number-one ranked contender among all four sanctioning bodies.

A deal must be reached within the next 30 days to avoid a purse bid hearing. As is customary by the WBC, a purse bid date—August 20—was already reserved in the event the session is necessary.

Stevenson, The Ring’s No. 4-rated lightweight, is guided by manager James Prince and in-house promoter Antonio Leonard. He was previously co-promoted by Top Rank; their deal expired after his July 6 points win over Artem Haruyunyan (12-2, 7 KOs) in Newark, New Jersey. Zepeda, No. 3 at 135, is with Golden Boy Promotions and manager Jaime Picos.

Oscar De La Hoya, Zepeda’s Hall of Fame promoter, flaunted his fighter’s ratings status before and after his most recent win. Zepeda also fought on July 6 and earned a third-round knockout of Giovanni Cabrera in Las Vegas.

Much was made of his desire to face any and all comers. However, the clearly stated target was WBO titlist Denys Berinchyk (19-0, 9 KOs), No. 5 at 135. De La Hoya’s vision was for Zepeda to first face the unbeaten Ukrainian later this year. From there, the next target would be a unification bout versus Stevenson.

Those plans are clearly on hold until a deal can be reached to satisfy all parties. Stevenson and Zepeda cannot commit to any other fight once the clock starts for a sanctioning body-ordered fight. Zepeda would risk his placement in the WBC rankings should his side decline to move forward.

Stevenson became a three-division titlist with a vacant title win over Edwin De Los Santos (16-2, 14 KOs) last Nov. 11 in Las Vegas. The 2016 Olympic Silver medalist previously won belts at 126 and 135.

This very matchup was previously explored by the WBC, only as a title eliminator. Golden Boy immediately rejected the idea of the fight, given the modest stakes. Stevenson went on to face unbeaten Shuichiro Yoshino (16-0, at the time), whom he stopped in the 6th round last April 8.

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