Jose Zepeda did what he was supposed to do on Tuesday in Las Vegas, dominate an inferior opponent.
Was it thrilling? Not at all. Was it convincing? Absolutely. He probably won’t frighten any of the best 140-pounders with his unanimous-decision victory over Kendo Castaneda in the bubble at the MGM Grand but maybe he should.
Zepeda (32-2, 25 KOs) was machine-like, almost robotic in his attack. The Southern Californian didn’t throw an abundance of punches but made the ones he unloaded count. They were accurate and hard, although Castaneda was never hurt.
Meanwhile, for the most part, Castaneda (17-2, 8 KOs) couldn’t land consistently. The tough, but limited late replacement from San Antonio was either beaten to punch or couldn’t catch Zepeda, whose slick footwork kept him out of trouble.
Castaneda came on to some degree in the later rounds, fighting with more urgency and finding the target enough to win a few rounds, but it wasn’t enough.
Zepeda did what it took down the stretch to preserve his victory but failed to shift into another gear, which might’ve allowed him to make a statement to those in his division and the fans.
In the end, he was happy with the victory. He has now won two in a row (not counting a no-contest) since he lost a close, majority decision to unbeaten junior welterweight titleholder Jose Ramirez in February of last year.
“He was a late replacement, but he was tough in there,” Zepeda said of Castaneda. “I didn’t take Kendo lightly because I knew what he was capable of. He had only one loss by decision coming into tonight.”
Zepeda is laser focused on getting another title shot. He was asked afterward which of the 140-pounders he wants. He responded by simply listing the names of the four major sanctioning bodies.
Ramirez holds two of the belts, Josh Taylor the other two.
“Anybody with a belt at 140 pounds is who I want to fight,” he said. “A championship fight is my goal, and that is what I am working towards.”