Zepeda Wins Again

Mexico’s William Zepeda Destroys Cabrera in Ontario

(Photos by Al Applerose)

By Lauren Rodriguez

ONTARIO, Ca- As the summer temperature sizzled, so did the ring as William “Camaron” Zepeda continued his assault on all lightweights including a destruction of Giovanni “El Cabron” Cabrera on Saturday.

The Golden Boy Promotions main event took place at Toyota Arena and saw Mexico’s undefeated Zepeda (31-0, 27 KO’s) pounce on Chicago’s Cabrera (22-2, 7 KO’s). The match exploded like fireworks, a spectacular show that was over in an instant. But it was lively while it lasted.

A Chicago native, Cabrera entered the ring in white trimmed with gold. Mexican fighter Zepeda entered in Dodger blue trimmed with white. The two quickly sprung into action, letting their hands fly. Zepeda was swift to cut off the ring from Cabrera who fought from the perimeter. Although on the outside Cabrera was consistent, keeping up with a speedy Zepeda who kept inching toward him before Cabrera pushed him to the other side of the ring.

In the beginning of the second round Cabrera let Zepeda move him backwards but recognized the same mistake he made in his last fight. The fighter continued throwing his hands as Zepeda countered him. By the third round, Cabrera’s precision and speed started to dwindle as Zepeda took the lead, continuously throwing a left-right as Cabrera struggled to keep him off.

Cabrera continued to push forward but Zepeda wouldn't let up. It was after a left hand connection by Cabrera that Zepeda began to berate Cabrera with a series of combinations that dropped Cabrera to his knees. Cabrera had a smile of shock as if he expected the volume of Zepeda's punches but could not believe the power was enough to drop him. Referee Thomas Taylor gave him an 8-second count, but the fighter was unable to rise in time.

The bout ultimately was brought to a halt at 1:58 seconds of the third round, a knockout victory for an undefeated Zepeda.

“It's a great honor, Cabrera is a very complicated fighter of his style but for me it's a great honor to get the job done.”

As far as comparing himself to the last fighter who took down Cabrera, Zepeda doesn’t think he did it any better.

“I can't compare myself to other fighters. “Pitbull” today can't say he is better than I am, I can't say I am better than “Pitbull.” The only time one of us can say that is when we face each other in the ring,” said Zepeda.

The next fighter in Zepeda's sights is Lomachenko who has been recently called out by Shakur Stevenson.

“We know that styles make fights, we know my style is aggressive, he's an idol. He's an idol to me. It's a dream of mine to get in the ring and become an idol so that's the kind of fight I want.”

Co- Main event

The co-main event of the night was a 10-round bout for the WBC Silver flyweight title between Ricardo Sandoval (24-2,17 KO’S) and Angel Acosta (24-4, 22 KO’s).  

Hailing from Rialto, Sandoval appeared in black shorts trimmed with gold. Acosta entered the ring in white trimmed with teal and the Puerto Rican flag. Sandoval used his jab to feel his opponent out, the two circling in the center. 

After missing a few punches, Acosta was able to corner Sandoval momentarily before the bell rang. By the third round Sandoval seemed to become weak in the knees as Acosta landed a left hook and kept his shoulders up Sandoval began missing shots.

In the fourth round, once more, Acosta was able to get Sandoval on the ropes as he tipped downward. Sandoval moved away from the ropes but was unable to let his hands fly as much as his opponent.

Sandoval amped up but was unable to move in and out as quick

The fighter kept inching forward as Acosta landed hooks and jabs to the body.

Despite appearing tired, Sandoval was able to land body shots. 

By the 6th round, Acosta pushed Sandoval toward the ropes but he quickly pushed him off as the two went blow for blow before the bell rang.

The final round was close as the two gave it their all. It was mere seconds that Acosta did not counter, getting hit in his wrist, that the referee Raul Caiz Jr. stopped the fight. The replay of the fight's final moments resulted in an eruption of booing across the arena. The halt seemed incredibly premature and unnecessary as Acosta did not look injured or unable to continue the fight.

The disapproval across the arena continued as fans continued to yell and boo. The abrupt halt to the fight reinforces the notion that many have come to believe about the politics in boxing. It is unfair to both boxers, the one whose victory is questioned and the one who feels robbed in his final career fight.

The fight was stopped at 1:23 of the 10th round,  a knockout victory for Sandoval.

“He at least wanted to walk away and say he lost the decision to a younger kid. But he was not losing the fight in my eyes. He was doing great, he was dominating, he was in control. That's not right. I think these politics in the sport are hurting the sport. A rematch favors Sandoval because he's the younger fighter, but if it comes down to a rematch we would take it so we can at least finish the decision and walk away with a decision loss the right way,” said Joel Diaz, Acosta’s trainer.

Gucci Wins

A super featherweight fight saw Manuel “Gucci” Flores (17-1, 13 KO’s) defeat Nohel Arambullet (23-6-2, 13 KO’s) by knockout. 

Flores landed a few uppercuts before cutting off the ring from his opponent. Arambullet fought along the ropes, circling the perimeter before a combination from Flores knocked him down. 

Arambullet rose before Flores landed a left and right hook that dropped him to his knees

resulting in a halt to the bout.

The fight was brought to a halt at 1:49 seconds of round 2 by referee Jerry Cantu, a knockout victory for Flores.

DAZN opener

The DAZN broadcast was opened by welterweights Joel Irirate (3-0, 3 KO’s) and Yaniel Alvarez (3-4-3, 1 KO’s) who went toe-to-toe in a scheduled 6-round bout. After missed shots by Yainel, the fight was quickly over. The bout ended at 2:41 round 2.  The knockout victory leaves Iriarte undefeated. 

Other bouts 

In the welterweight division Alex Martin (18-6, 6 KO’s) went up against Pedro Campa (36-3-1, 24 KO’s). It was in the 10th round that Martin was down, resulting in a unanimous decision victory for Campa.

In the featherweight division Gael Cabrera (5-0, 3 Ko’s) knocked down Mychaquell Shields (2-5) three times before the bout was brought to a halt. Cabrera's knockout victory leaves him undefeated.

Lightweights Joshua Garcia (9-0, 4 KO’s) and Jason Buenaobra (10-11-3, 4 KO’s) went 6-rounds that led to a split decision victory in favor of Garcia. The scores were 59-55, 58-56, 57-57. Garcia remains undefeated with 9 victories.

Middleweight fighters Anthony Saldivar (7-0, 3 KO’s) and Roman Canto (15-17-3, 9 KOs) fought for 2 of 4 rounds before Canto retired. Saldivar remains undefeated with 7 victories.

Lightweight Daniel Luna (4-1, 3 Ko’s) and Joseph Walker (1-1) went 1 of 4 rounds before Walker retired. 

In the featherweight division, Japhethlee Llamido (12-1, 4 KO’s) won in a unanimous decision against  Ryan Allen (10-8-1, 5 KO’s. The judges scores were 80-71 78-73 77-74.