William Zepeda Conquers Las Vegas

William Zepeda beats Maxie Hughes and Floyd Schofield Wins Too

(All Photos by Al Applerose)

By Lauren Rodriguez

LAS VEGAS, NV- Golden Boy promotions and DAZN returned to The Cosmopolitan resort and casino with a five-bout card inside Chelsea towers venue.

The main event of the night was a 12-round IBF & WBA lightweight eliminator between William Zepeda (30-0, 26 KO’s) and Maxi Hughes (26-7-2, 5 KO’s). It was a battle between Mexico and Great Britain as the crowd roared for their home countries' fighters.

After a night of short and slow bouts, the fight between the two lightweights gave the crowd what they were hungry for. With his right foot forward, Zepeda led the bout from beginning to end. Hughes wasn’t without a counter, quickly jabbing any opening Zepeda left open.

Zepeda kept Hughes in a backward motion, rushing the British fighter with a flurry of combinations. The Mexican fighter found weakness in his opponent's body, striking his side before digging for more. The pain in Hughes face was evident as he tried to shake off the feeling. Hughes fired back with a left hook but Zepeda continued to stay on him.

Hughes threw uppercuts at an unphased Zepeda who continued to throw straight jabs followed by uppercuts to the body. The two began to brawl along the ropes, Hughes becoming frozen by the Mexican fighters' combinations. It was in the 4th round that Zepeda continuously dug into Hughes’ body from every angle as the crowd screamed, “MEXICO.” As the round ended and the fighters returned to their corners, Hughes and team forfeited, unable to continue on with the battering. After four rounds, Zepeda was crowned winner by TKO. Zepeda remains undefeated with 30 victories and 26 knockouts.

“We are here for the big names, we want all of them. We know that our division is very complicated but we are going to work harder and think of ways to give better performances,” said Zepeda

Co-main

The co-main event of the night was a WBA International lightweight title fight between Floyd Schofield (17-0, 13 KO’s) and Esteuri Suero (13-2, 10 KO’s). Schofield, fighting out of Austin Texas, was patient as he waited for the right time to strike his opponent.

As the rounds progressed, it became apparent that Dominican fighter, Suero, was not trying to box. The fighter appeared to be unaware of the rules of boxing, despite having a professional

score that says otherwise. Suero accumulated many penalties throughout the bout, holding and using moves that are not a part of the sport.

Suero had the ability to throw a solid hook but was unable to deal with Schofield’s combinations. The Dominican, fighting out of Las Vegas, began holding after almost every punch thrown by Schofield. As the bout progressed, the illegal moves from Suero continued. Suero began holding and picking up his opponent multiple times. The bout seemed to be a ridiculous game of, “how many penalties can I get before being disqualified.” It was in the 5th round, after hitting Schofield in what appeared to be the growing area, referee Raul Caiz Jr. called the fight and Suero was disqualified. The fighter began crying, angry with the decision as the crowd cheered.

In the middleweight division, Eric Priest (13-0, 8 KO’s) went 10 long rounds against Jose Sanchez (21-5-1, 12 KO’s). Priest led the bout with his left hook. The two fighters played a long game of tag as Priest tagged and Sanchez searched for an escape. There were moments that Sanchez threw jabs, firing shots into Priest’s body. Priest followed Sanchez along the ropes, cutting the ring off from his opponent. Priest’s ability to cut off the ring haunted Sanchez who wanted to run more than he wanted to counter. Sanchez’s arms seemed too short to catch Priest who quickly bobbed up and down, following with left hooks to the body.  The bout was scored a unanimous decision in favor of Priest with 100-90, 99-91. Priest remains undefeated with 13 victories.

In the cruiserweight division, Tristan Kalkreuth (13-1, 10 KO’s) and Marquice Weston (15-3-1, 8 KO’s) took the ring in what was scheduled to be an 8-round bout. Fighting out of Seattle, WA, Weston’s ring IQ shined as he played a game of chess between the ropes. After an attack by Kalkreuth, Weston swiftly and precisely snapped back with a straight jab followed by blows to the body.

Kalkreuth changed the narrative in the second round, taking a split second of hesitation from Weston and utilizing it to attack. The Las Vegas fighter seized the opportunity with an uppercut followed by a left that knocked Weston down. It was 1:33 of the 2nd round that Kalkreuth won by TKO. Kalkreuth improves to (13-1, 10 KO’s)

The DAZN opener of the night was a 4-round bout between Joel Iriarte (1-0, 1 KO’s) and Bryan Carguacundo (3-4-2). Iriarte commenced his debut with a left hook followed by a straight jab, immediately dazing his opponent. Carguacundo was able to maintain his composure, firing back with uppercuts as the round came to a close. The second round was dominated by Iriarte who fired his long arms with heavy hitters before trapping his opponent along the ropes, landing back-to-back uppercuts seconds before the referee, Mike Ortega called the bout to a halt. Iriarte gained his first ever win and knockout after 1:26 of round 2.