William Zepeda, Maxi Hughes Make Weight For WBA/IBF Title Eliminator In Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS–William Zepeda and Maxi Hughes are fit to fight. The pair of Ring top ten lightweight contenders both made weight ahead of their WBA and IBF title eliminator. Zepeda (29-0, 25 knockouts), No. 5 at 135, weighed 133.8 pounds during the Nevada State Athletic Commission-supervised ceremony. Hughes (26-5-2, 5 KOs), No. 9 at 135, […]
The post William Zepeda, Maxi Hughes Make Weight For WBA/IBF Title Eliminator In Las Vegas appeared first on The Ring.
LAS VEGAS–William Zepeda and Maxi Hughes are fit to fight.
The pair of Ring top ten lightweight contenders both made weight ahead of their WBA and IBF title eliminator. Zepeda (29-0, 25 knockouts), No. 5 at 135, weighed 133.8 pounds during the Nevada State Athletic Commission-supervised ceremony. Hughes (26-5-2, 5 KOs), No. 9 at 135, tipped the scales at 134.6 pounds.
DAZN will air their scheduled twelve-round bout this Saturday from Chelsea Theater at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
Zepeda is highly rated by all four sanctioning bodies. His career picked up significant steam after an October 2022 points win over former IBF 130-pound titlist Joseph ‘JoJo’ Diaz. The win was his second straight to go to the cards after a 15-fight knockout streak. The 27-year-old southpaw from San Mateo Atenco, Mexico has since stopped his last two opponents.
Most recently, Zepeda halted former title challenger Mercito Gesta in the sixth round last September 16 in Commerce, California.
Hughes hopes for a fairer shake than was the case his previous trip abroad last summer.
Many viewers felt the 34-year-0ld Yorkshire southpaw did enough to beat former Ring champ George Kambosos Jr. last July 22 in Shawnee, Oklahoma. The judges disagreed and awarded Kambosos (21-2, 10 KOs), No. 8 at 135, with a majority decision win.
Kambosos will next face Vasiliy Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs), No. 1 at 135, for the vacant IBF title. They meet May 12 in Perth, Australia.
Hughes would love nothing more to avenge the questionable defeat, or for the chance to face the highly regarded Lomachenko. His setback versus Kambosos snapped a career-best seven-fight win streak. The run included wins over Jono Carroll, Viktor Kotochigov and Kid Galahad. Hughes entered as the B-side for each of those fights but ruined future plans for all three.
Below are the weight for the full DAZN undercard, which begins at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. local time.
Floyd Schofield (16-0, 12 KOs), Austin, Texas, 134.8 pounds vs. Esteuri Suero (13-1, 10 KOs), Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 135 pounds—10 rounds, lightweight
Eric Priest (12-0, 8 KOs), Los Angeles via Wichita Falls, Texas, 159.6 pounds vs. Jose Sanchez (21-4-1, 12 KOs), Reynosa, Mexico, 160 pounds—10 rounds, middleweight
Tristan Kalkreuth (12-1, 9 KOs), Carrollton, Texas, 198.6 pounds vs. Marquice Weston (15-2-1, 8 KOs), Tacoma, Washington, 201.6 pounds—8 rounds, cruiserweight
Joel Iriarte (pro debut), Bakersfield, California, 145.2 pounds vs. Bryan Carguacundo (3-5-2, 0 KOs), Las Vegas via Santo Domingo, Ecuador, 142.8 pounds—4 rounds, welterweight
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for The Ring and vice president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.
Follow @JakeNDaBox
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The post William Zepeda, Maxi Hughes Make Weight For WBA/IBF Title Eliminator In Las Vegas appeared first on The Ring.