Lightweight William Zepeda (29-0, 25 KOs) made a statement on Saturday night, burying the veteran Mercito Gesta (34-4-3, 17 KOs) with his high volume attack to score a sixth round knockout in Commerce, California.
Zepeda landed 286 of 618 punches thrown in the six rounds of action before the fight was halted.
After the fight, Zepeda called out undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney, saying he wanted to challenge him next. However, Haney has already left the division, and if he does return, it won’t be to face Zepeda or Shakur Stevenson. Haney only wants the big-money fight against Gervonta Davis.
Boxing results & updates will be provided below.
– In the co-feature bout, unbeaten featherweight Victor Morales (19-0-1, 9 KOs) had to go through hell tonight to beat Edwin Palomares (18-5-2, 9 KOs) by a 10 round unanimous decision.
The judges’ scores were 96-94, 100-90, and 99-91. This writer had Morales winning 6-4. He won, but his performance won’t keep any of the champions up at night, worrying about him as a future opponent.
Out-punched through most of the first half of the fight, Morales was forced to move nonstop to keep Palomares off him. In the sixth, Morales was cut under his right eye from a left uppercut from Palomares, which the referee mistakenly ruled was caused by an accidental head-butt.
In Morales’ best round of the fight in the tenth, he stopped moving and went after Palomares, throwing nonstop punches that had him hurt in the final minute. Palomares just barely made it to the final bell, but he looked close to being stopped.
It’s too bad Morales didn’t fight that way the entire contest because he likely would have knocked out Palomares early. Morales looked terrified through most of the fight, and was getting worked over by the journeyman Palomares.
Rounds eight and nine were hard to watch because Morales was moving & tying up Palomares at every opportunity and not showing any interest in standing his ground. For the fans who wanted to see an entertaining contest, that wasn’t much fun during that part of the fight.
Moving forward, Golden Boy Promotions should look to match Morales against someone like Joet Gonzalez or Mauricio Lara. Those would be good step-up fights for him.
Of course, it’s going to take a while for Morales to head up from the cut that he suffered tonight, but once that heals up, Joet or Lara would be a good option for him.
– Yokasta Valle (29-2, 9 KOs) retained her IBF & WBO female world minimumweight champion with a ten round unanimous decision over Maria Micheo Santizo (11-4, 6 KOs) by a lopsided 10 round unanimous decision. The scores were 100-90, 99-91 and 99-91. Valle suffered a cut on the bridge of her nose in round seven after bumping into Santizo.
Those most of the fight, Valle landed huge shots to the head of Santizo but was unable to put her away because it was sporadic punches. The hand speed & volume punching from Santizo gave Valle problems.
– Middleweight prospect Darius Fulghum (7-0, 7 KOs) destroyed 33-year-old veteran Ricardo Adrian Luna (25-10-2, 16 KOs) by a second round knockout.
Fulghum connected with a short left hook in the second round to send the badly bleeding Luna down for the knockout.
– In an old school phonebooth type of fight, middleweight Eric Priest (11-0, 7 KOs) out-slugged Simon Madsen (13-2, 10 KOs), beating him by a eight round majority decision. The judges’ scores were 79-73, 80-72, and 76-76.
Priest chose to fight the Danish fighter’s fight by standing in close and trading punches to the head and body, not thinking about defense.
The fight looked to be even going into the fifth, but then Priest turned it up another gear, throwing combinations and outworking the 28-year-old Madsen. It still looked pretty even from rounds six through eight, and there wasn’t much to separate the two.
William Zepeda will be tested tonight by Mercito Gesta in lightweight action on DAZN in Commerce, California. The event starts at 8 pm. ET. Zepeda, 27, has the youth and power advantage over the 34-year-old Gesta (34-3-3, 17 KO).
Zepeda (28-0, 24 KOs) has looked great lately, beating Joseph Diaz, Jaime Arboleda and Rene Alvarado. The Mexican warrior Zepeda is the favorite for obvious reasons, but Gesta won’t give up without a fight.
Golden Boy prompter Oscar De La Hoya sees big things ahead for the 27-year-old Zepeda, positioning him to fight for the WBA lightweight title once it’s vacated or stripped from champion Devin Haney.
If Zepeda does capture the WBA belt next year, it’s going to be awfully hard for him to hold onto it with these contenders breathing down his neck:
Frank Martin
Vasiliy Lomachenko
Floyd Schofield
Edwin De Los Santos
Shakur Stevenson
Keyshawn Davis
George Kambosos
Giovanni Cabrera
Zepeda is someone that is detined to be a future world champion that has a long reign. He’s more of the type that will win a belt eventually and hold it as long as he’s matched carefully.
Once he faces someone good, he’ll lose the belt and will start the process over again to find a vulnerable champion for him to pick up another title.
Another fight on tonight’s card is featherweight Victor Morales (18-0-1, 9 KOs) taking on Edwin Palomares (18-4-2, 9 KOs) in a 10 round chief support bout. Morales isn’t a big puncher, so you can’t rule out a win for Palomares, but it’s still unlikely to happen.
In another interesting fight, Yokasta Valle (28-2, 9 KOs) defends her IBF/WBO Minimumweight straps against challenger Maria Santizo (11-3, 6 KOs) in a bout scheduled for 10 rounds.
“I like to hear about that, being the underdog. There’s no pressure for me. I don’t have to show that. Of course, I have to show my skills, but there’s no pressure being an underdog,” said Mercito Gesta to Golden Boy Promotions, reacting to being the underdog for tonight’s fight with William Zepeda in the headliner.
“I just want to go showcase my style and give it all in the ring. All the fans that are there for me. This is another opportunity. This is a good fight, and I hope you guys watch it. If you come live, it will be better.
“In the Philippines, they learn how to subscribe on DAZN. With my family & my neighbors. I’m so thankful for your support. Watch this fight this Saturday, September 16th,” said Gesta.
“I know we’re both active fighters. I know it’s going to be a war,” said Zepeda. “Every time I step in the ring, I want to make sure I take advantage of that opportunity, and this is not an exception.
“Don’t miss this fight. It is going to be a great show on September 16th. I’m very proud to be taking part in this event, and it’s going to be a great show,” said Zepeda.