William Zepeda’s hard-fought win against Tevin Farmer has proven to be costly.

The No. 1 rated lightweight Zepeda, 28, survived his first career knockdown and sneaked by with a split decision win against Tevin Farmer on November 16 in Saudi Arabia.

But during the sixth round of their 10-round fight, the southpaw Zepeda suffered a left arm injury between his wrist and his forearm. After settling back home in Mexico, it’s been determined that Zepeda may need surgery, Zepeda’s head coach Jacob “Panda” Najar told BoxingScene on Sunday.

Najar said the injury will force Zepeda (32-0, 27 KOs) out of his planned fight against WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson on February 22 in Saudi Arabia.

On Sunday, Zepeda posted a photo of himself on social media with his left arm in a sling noting that he needs to rest between six to eight weeks and plans to return at the end of March.

“William is currently taking pain medication and we’re scheduled to have a follow-up appointment with the doctor next week,” Najar told BoxingScene. “I respect Shakur and his entire team, but my fighter’s health is first. It’s the biggest fight and purse of his career, and I won’t let him take the fight unless he’s 100 percent. It hurts him. We’re hopeful.”

Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs), meanwhile, is recovering from an injury of his own. Hand surgery in September forced his scheduled fight last month against Joe Cordina to be canceled. Stevenson, however, was trending toward a full recovery to fight Zepeda on Riyadh Season’s bill in February.

Najar also recounted Zepada’s performance against the former 130-pound titleholder Farmer, who landed 193 punches on the Mexican and absorbed 259 shots in return.

After the high-volume punching Zepada suffered the injury in the sixth, he was still throwing a bevy of punches, finishing the last four rounds 22/73, 26/76, 31/89, and 22/79.

“We don’t want to make any excuses,” said Najar. “Farmer is a great fighter who had a great gameplan and he almost executed it. It was the first time William fought a fighter with that kind of a style. Farmer has a lot of experience and was able to do a lot of things. He had a good jab and counter. I don’t know how it was a split decision because the only round Farmer really won was the fourth round due to the knockdown. Farmer was a hell of a fighter though. We’ll be ready for Shakur once William is healthy.”

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter whose work has appeared on ESPN, Fox Sports, USA Today, The Guardian, Newsweek, Men’s Health, NFL.com, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Ring Magazine and more. He has been writing for BoxingScene since 2018. Manouk is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association.