It’s over already!
William Zepeda put Jaime Arboleda down three times with body shots in the second round, the third time for good in the scheduled 12-round lightweight bout.
The official time of the stoppage was 2:16 of Round 2.
Zepeda (28-0, 24 KOs) pressured Arboleda (19-3, 14 KOs) from the outset but the beginning of the end came midway through the second round, Arboleda took a knee after taking a vicious left to the body from his southpaw opponent.
The Panamanian was able to get up and continue fighting but, obviously still in pain, took a knee again when he was caught by another body shot.
Again Arboleda got up but the last body blow he took sent him face first to the canvas, where he writhed in pain and failed to beat the count.
You can read a full report here.
***
Victor Morales stopped Diego De La Hoya at 1:08 of the second round of a scheduled 10-round featherweight fight.
Morales (18-0-1, 9 KOs) put De La Hoya down twice in Round 2, the first time by a left hook. De La Hoya got up and engaged Morales in a quick fire fight only to go down again from another left.
De La Hoya (24-2, 11 KOs) couldn’t beat the count this time, dashing his hopes of becoming a title contender again.
Meanwhile, Morales, a 25-year-old accomplished amateur from Vancouver, Washington, claimed by far the biggest victory over his career.
***
Ghanaian Fredrick Lawson defeated late replacement Estevan Villalobos of Mount Vernon, Washington, to win a unanimous decision in a 10-round junior middleweight bout.
The official scores were 97-93, 96-94 and 96-94.
Lawson (30-3, 22 KOs) controlled much of the fight from the outside, landing his jab consistently and following with plenty of power shots to win rounds.
Villalobos (16-2-1, 12 KOs) did well in toe-to-toe exchanges with Lawson but he didn’t get enough done — particularly in the early rounds — to win the fight.
Lawson, who is based in Worchester, Massachusetts, has now won back-to-back fights since he was stopped by Charles Hatley in 2021.
Villialobos suffered his first defenat since 2019.
***
Super middleweight prospect David Stevens survived an early knockdown and spirited effort from veteran Marco Antonio Periban to win a unanimous decision in an eight-round bout.
The official scores were 78-73, 78-83 and 77-74.
Stevens (13-0, 9 KOs), a 22-year-old from Reading, Pennsylvania, is a former amateur star. Periban (26-7-1, 17 KOs), a 38-year-old former title challenger from Mexico, is now 1-4 in his last five fights.
***
Rising lightweight contender William Zepeda is scheduled to face Jaime Arboledo on Saturday at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas (DAZN).
Zepeda (27-0, 23 KOs) is a 26-year-old volume puncher from the Mexico City area. He’s ranked in the Top 6 by three of the four major sanctioning bodies
Arboleda (19-2, 14 KOs) is a 28-year-old Panamanian based in Miami. He has won three consecutive fights since he was stopped by Chris Colbert.
Also on the card, Diego De La Hoya will face Victor Morales in a 10-round featherweight bout. And Frank Lawson will take on Estevan Villalobos in a 10-round junior middleweigths.
The featured bouts on the card begin at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. The main event will take place later in show.
Boxing Junkie will post results of the main event and the co-features immediately after they end. Simply return to this post and refresh when the time comes.
Full coverage – a fight story, photo gallery and analysis – will follow on separate posts the day of the fight and the following day.
Enjoy the fights!
[lawrence-related id=37084,37071,37038]