The World Boxing Council has ordered its lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson to defend his title against the top-ranked contender William Zepeda, with a purse bid scheduled for August 20.

Stevenson, 22-0 (10KOs), and Zepeda each fought on July 6. Stevenson defeated Artem Harutyunyan via unanimous decision in Newark, and Zepeda, 31-0 (27KOs), knocked out Giovanni Cabrera in the third round in Ontario, California.

The 27-year-old Stevenson’s fight was his last with long-time promoter Top Rank, moving him to free agency. 

Earlier in July, Stevenson, and the 28-year-old Zepeda’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions, participated in a Zoom call to discuss the three-division world champion’s future.

De La Hoya emerged from that meeting saying that the only way Stevenson could fight the Mexican – who is the consensus number one contender among all four sanctioning bodies – is to sign with Golden Boy.

The purse bid auction creates the possibility for another promoter to emerge, making the highest bid to promote the bout. 

Given both fighters’ schedules, a fall date is likely to follow the winning purse bid.

The IBF champion Vasiliy Lomachenko was scheduled to arrive in the US on Monday to receive an update regarding a potential unification fight with Stevenson’s rival Gervonta “Tank” Davis, the WBA champion, also for the fall.