This past weekend saw Mexican fighter William Zepeda seal himself as, perhaps, one of the best contenders at 135 lbs following a dominant KO victory over Dominican contender, Jaime Arboleda. Headlining for the second time of his career at College Park Center in Texas on April 29th, Zepeda certainly delivered by dispatching his opponent within just two rounds.
Overshadowed by other Lightweight contemporaries such as Gervonta Davis (29-0, 27 KO’s), Shakur Stevenson (20-0, 10 KO’s) and Isaac Cruz (24-2-1, 17 KO’s), William Zepeda (28-0, 24 KO’s) showed the best account possible of himself during his match with Dominican Jaime Arboleda (19-3, 14 KO’s) to suggest that he belongs in the same bracket of highly-regarded fighters at 135 pounds.
The first round between Zepeda and Arboleda started fast, with the 26-year old William Zepeda immediately making his intention by drifting close to Arboleda at mid-range while looking to open him up with body shots. 28-year old Jaime Arboleda was forced on the backfoot where he sought to push Zepeda back with plenty of jabs and straight rights but Zepeda was keen not to give up any advantage by using his head movement to evade shots, and by effectively parrying most of what Jaime Arboleda threw at him.
The second round was far from as evenly-matched as the first round had looked as William Zepeda stepped up his efforts in the ring early on leading to a knockdown ― after an accumulation of combinations that Zepeda threw ― over Arboleda in just the first half minute of the round. From that point forward, Arboleda was firmly rooted in survival mode as he sought to keep Zepeda off him with only a sparse amount of punches which didn’t make Zepeda relent in the slightest. Zepeda’s pressure eventually led to another knockdown when around half the round had passed.
From that point forward, a victory seemed to be in the bag for William Zepeda who capitalized on a weakened Arboleda in the latter minute of the round. The two exchanged briefly in a slugfest, but Arboleda was no match for Zepeda’s power and clearly lost the exchange when he took a body shot that floored him for the third time of the round.
Rolling around on the ground in pain, Jaime Arboleda failed to beat the count of ten and the match officially ended with the match being ruled a knockout for WIlliam Zepeda who subsequently eagerly celebrated his emphatic victory over a decent contender (who is currently ranked at #48 in the Lightweight division by BoxRec).
With his last win, Zepeda retained his unbeaten record and announced himself to the division as another contender, adding himself to the aforementioned list of elite Lightweights with his superb KO performance.
The rest of the fight card saw more knockouts/stoppages occur than decision victories to fill up an event ― which was mostly filled with prospects. One of the most eye-catching bouts was Diego De La Hoya (24-2, 11 KO’s), cousin of Hall of Fame boxer Oscar De La Hoya who promoted the event as part of Golden Boy Promotions, fell to a brutal knockout defeat to undefeated American prospect Victor Morales (18-0-1, 9 KO’s).
With the aftermath of the event seeing William Zepeda and fellow Lightweight contender Frank Martin (17-0, 12 KO’s) stumble upon each other, a future clash between the two may already be set in motion as the two look to establish themselves as the next world champion (and maybe undisputed champion) of the Lightweight division.
