#1 Zepeda dismantles Cabrera in three
By Miguel Maravilla at ringside
It was another impressive performance by undefeated Mexican lightweight William “El Camarón” Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs) of San Mateo Atenco, Mexico, scored a third round knockout over Giovanni Cabrera (22-2, 7 KOs) of Chicago Saturday night at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California.
Off to a fast start, Zepeda and Cabrera came out shooting in the opening round as Cabrera got the better of the exchanges snapping his punches and roughing up Zepeda as he shoved him to the corner to close. Letting loose in the second, Zepeda began to connect and back Cabrera with crisp clean punches. Fighting inside in the center, Zepeda got the better of the inside fight as he outworked and outhustled Cabrera. A cruching body shot during the exchange by Zepeda sent Cabrera to his knees as referee Thomas Taylor reached a ten count at 1:58 of the third.
Zepeda is rated #1 at lightweight by all four major boxing sanctioning organizations.
* * *
In the flyweight co-main event world title contender Ricardo “El Niño” Sandoval (25-2, 18 KOs) of nearby Rialto, California scored a controversial tenth round stoppage over former world champion Angel “Tito” Acosta (24-5, 22 KOs) of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Sizing one another in the early rounds, it was Acosta that landed the more flush as Sandoval connected with a crisp uppercut to finish the second round. Sandoval stalked a very poised and bouncy Acosta throughout the ring in the third. It was competitve thus far as neither Sandoval and Acosta continued their momemtum through four. Continuing where they left off, Sandoval and Acosta kept up the pace in the fifth and fought inside in close quarters.
Halfway through in the sixth, Acosta and Sandoval continued on the inside mixing it up and finished the round exchanging inside. It was competitve thus far through seven as Acosta and Sandoval had some close competitive rounds. Acosta pressed and stood close to Sandoval in the eighth round but Sandoval kept fighting on. Late in the ninth, Acosta had a good round and connected effectively as Sandoval seemed to take the round off. The final round, Sandoval backed Acosta to the ropes and followed up with a few punches as referee Raul Caiz Jr. prematurely stepped in to stop the fight at 1:23 of the tenth and final round.
* * *
Coachella bantamweight Manuel “Gucci Manny” Flores (18-1, 14 KOs) scored a second round knockout over Nohel Arambulet (23-7-2, 13 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nevada. Shooting and connecting with straight lefts, Flores dictated the fight early on in the opening round. A vicious right hook by Flores sent Arambulet to the canvas. He continued but was floored a second time and did not beat referee Jerry Cantu’s count.
* * *
On the DAZN opening bout, Bakersfield, California’s Joel Iriarte (3-0, 3 KOs) stopped Yainel Alvarez (3-5-2, 1 KO) of Hutto, Texas in a scheduled six-round welterweight fight. Iriarte was precise from the start as he tagged Alvarez and finished him off in the second with a series of punches forcing the referee to stop the fight at 2:41.
* * *
Pedro Campa (36-3-1, 24 KOs) of Sonora, Mexico and Chicago’s Alex Martin (18-6, 6 KOs) squared off going the distance. in a scheduled ten round super lightweight bout. There was holding and clinching along with inside fighting in the opening round as Campa let his hands go while Martin dipped. Campa worked the inside and ripped to the body in round three as Martin mixed it up. Connecting solid, Campa kept ripping inside to the body in the third as Martin backed up. It was all Campa to start the fourth as he let his hands go, Martin stayed away and continued to dip. Referee Thomas Taylor deducted a point from each fighter in the fifth for holding on the break.
Coming out aggressive in the sixth, Campa stayed on top of Martin. On the inside in round seven, Campa kept at it as Martin was on his feet keeping his distance. It was Campa dictating the pace late in the fight as he pressed and stayed inside, Martin appeared to have trouble keeping him off. In the ninth, Campa kept pressing and outworking Martin, Campa appeared to have a cut on his head. The tenth and final round saw Campa finish strong as he scored a knockdown in route to the decision win.
After ten rounds the judges scored the bout 97-90, 96-91, 94-93 as Pedro Campa wins a unanimous decision.
* * *
Sonora, Mexico’s featherweight Gael “El Terror” Cabrera (5-0, 3 KOs) scored a third round stoppage over Mychaquell Shields (2-5) of Alpine, California. It was a slow paced opening round as Cabrera patiently boxed, moments later Cabrera connected with a looping left as he sent Shields to the canvas to finish the round. On the offensive in round two, Cabrera scored another knockdown as Shields continued to fight. Prior to the start of round three, Shields was being looked at by the ringside physician and continued. However a crunching body shot by Cabrera did it as Shields was down on his knees prompting referee Raul Caiz Jr. to stop the fight at 1:09 of the third.
* * *
Golden Boy Promotions newly signed super featherweight prospect Joshua “El Americano” Garcia (9-0-4 KOs) of Moreno Valley, California won a unanimous decision over Jason Buenaobra (10-11-3, 4 KOs) of Manila, Philippines. Garcia was on the offensive from the opening bell, then in the second he staggered Buenaobra as the Filipino clinched holding on to survive.
Displaying superior boxing skill, Garcia picked his shots and continued to have his way as Buenaobra shelled up and clinched. It was all Garcia through five rounds as he kept outboxing Buenaobra. Finishing strong, Garcia kept working as Buenaobra was limited throughout the fight, Garcia fought on in route to the decision win.
Scores were 59-55, 58-56, and 57-57.
* * *
Fighting at home, Ontario, California’s middleweight prospect Anthony Saldivar (7-0, 3 KOs) stopped Roman Canto (15-18-3, 9 KOs) of Manila, Philippines in two rounds. The tall and rangy Saldivar used his ranged and shot away from a distance rocking Canto. Saldivar let his hands go in the second however Canto turned away as the referee stepped in to stop the fight at 54 seconds of round two.
* * *
Super featherweight prospect Daniel Luna (3-1, 3 KOs) of Victorville, California stopped Joseph Walker (1-2) of Arkansas at the end of round one. Luna’s offense was too much for Walker as he couldn’t continue forcing the referee Raul Caiz Jr to waive at the end of the round.
* * *
In the opening bout from the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California featherweight Japhethlee Llamido (12-1, 4 KOs) of Long Beach had his work cut out as he went the distance with a very tough Ryan Allen (10-8-1, 5 KOs) of Las Vegas. It was a slow paced first round as Llamido and Allen felt away with the jab. Shooting the straight left in the second, Llamido connected but Allen landed a right sending Llamido back. Allen chased to start round three as Llamido was on his feet and boxed away. Coming out aggressive in the fourth, Allen pressed as Llamido let his hands go and continued to box.
Halfway through in the fifth, Allen continued to rip away attacking as he was having a good round however Llamido scored a knockdown with a counter as Allen stumbled and glove touch the canvas, referee Richard Cantu ruled a knockdown. Allen kept at it in the sixth as he continued to display aggression, Llamido kept his poise and continued to box as Allen appeared to be tiring. In the seventh, Allan showboated and was not as aggressive as a relaxed Llamido stuck to the plan and kept boxing. In the eighth and final round Llamido stayed busy as Allen was limited and stalked.
The judges scored the bout 80-71, 78-73, and 77-74 as Llamido wins a unanimous decision.
Follow Miguel on X @MigMaravilla
The post #1 Zepeda dismantles Cabrera in three appeared first on fightnews.com.