William Zepeda is now ranked #1 in all four sanctioning bodies at lightweight and is poised for a world title shot against one of the champions.
Zepeda’s Meteoric Rise
One rarely sees a fighter ranked #1 in all four sanctioning bodies, but Zepeda has accomplished that in a short time.
Zepeda (30-0, 26 KOs) has rapidly moved up the rankings to 135 in the last two years, defeating Maxi Hughes, Joseph ‘JoJo’ Diaz, Mercito Gesta and Rene Alvarado. In Zepeda, walked down the crafty boxer Hughes, stopping him in four rounds last March.
William Zepeda’s Rankings
- IBF #1
- WBA #1
- WBC #1
- WBO #1
Hughes was coming off a twelve-round majority decision defeat against former unified lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. in a fight many people felt he won last year in July.
Zepeda made it look easy, cutting off the ring on the sharpshooter Hughes, pounding him to the head and body until he was pulled out in the fourth.
The 28-year-old Golden Boy-promoted Zepeda is now ranked where champions at lightweight, and ideally can’t avoid him, he’ll get a crack at one of the belts soon.
The Cabrera Challenge
Next month, Zepeda faces Giovanni Cabrera (22-1, 7 KOs) in a twelve-round headliner live on DAZN at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California. It will be interesting to see if the pure boxer Cabrera can keep Zepeda off of him to survive for 12 rounds or possibly win.
Last year, Cabrera lost a questionable 12-round split decision to Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz in July 2023 in a fight many boxing fans felt should have gone the other way.
If Zepeda can do something that Pitbull Cruz couldn’t by dominating and knocking out Cabrera, it would signal how good he is. Cruz is highly respected, but Zepeda has a chance to show the fans that he’s on another level.
Golden Boy boss Oscar De La Hoya has been calling for WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson to give Zepeda a title shot. Zepeda called out Shakur after his recent win over Hughes, and it’s a fight that he would jump at if given the chance.
Read the full article here
