William Zepeda flexes his No. 1 contender status with a body bullet

ONTARIO, California – Once William Zepeda’s hardest blows begin to land, no opponent is long for the night.

And so it went Saturday evening at Toyota Arena as the consensus No. 1-ranked lightweight contender Zepeda delivered a third-round thrashing sealed by a left-handed body blow that left Giovanni Cabrera crashed and immobile on the canvas.

Recorded at 1 minute, 58 seconds into the third round, Zepeda’s knockout elevates him exponentially into a crowded lightweight division that features three-division champions Gervonta “Tank” Davis (WBA), Vasiliy Lomachenko (IBF) and Shakur Stevenson (WBC) along with new WBO titleholder Denys Berinchyk of Ukraine.

After the bout, Zepeda promoter Oscar De La Hoya said he foresees a bout with Berinchyk as the easiest title shot to make, although he also invited Stevenson (22-0) to come to Golden Boy Promotions now that his contract with Bob Arum’s Top Rank has ended.

Davis and Lomachenko are currently in negotiations to stage a unification bout by year’s end.

“I think we’ll go the WBO route, Berinchyk. It’s not the easiest fight for Zepeda, but it’s the easiest William Zepeda flexes his No. 1 contender status with a body bullet fight to make. That’ll be a great fight, a fan-friendly fight,” De La Hoya said. “It will take William Zepeda to the next level. And then we go after the unifications … Shakur Stevenson and all the other guys.”

De La Hoya said his hope is to make that fight by the end of the year, knowing that Mexico’s Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs) emerged unscathed in less than eight minutes of action, while Berinchyk won his belt May 18.

Zepeda’s only difficulty with fellow southpaw Cabrera occurred in the first round, as Cabrera landed some jabs and a pair of power punches to the face to get the 28-year-old’s attention.

Zepeda ramped up his pressure and effectiveness in the second and the power-punching activity immediately began to take its toll as Cabrera failed to repeat the cagey evasiveness he displayed in going the distance last year against new 140-pound titleholder Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz.

“Every fight has its difficulty. We were ready for that in the gym,” Zepeda said. “Every time I touched him [from the second round on], I knew I was hurting him. I continued punching him with the left hand until I got the victory.”

While Cabrera touted the strength of his chin in the lead-up to the bout, Zepeda smartly attacked the body to get the knockout.

“There’s not an individual alive in the world who can take that body shot,” Zepeda said.

Cabrera replied, “He got me right in the liver. I thought I was going to get up, then it was, ‘10,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, man.’” 

De La Hoya was especially impressed with Zepeda on Saturday, emphasizing that the awkward, crafty Cabrera (22-2) went the distance with Cruz and pointing to the pressure Zepeda faced to “make a statement like that” in the No. 1 slot with each of the four sanctioning bodies.

“He was relentless. He showed what he’s all about. William Zepeda is one of the most exciting fighters in boxing today, especially at 135 [pounds],” De La Hoya said.

“He’s back in the gym on Monday. We have a future superstar on our hands.”