William Zepeda and Victor Morales Get Stoppages; David Stevens Beats Periban
Lightweight contender William Zepeda (28-0, 24KO) beat down challenger Jaime Arboleda (19-3, 14KO) in two quick rounds.
Bumped up to the main event, William Zepeda was on a mission to prove he’s one of the top names in the division. It was lion versus lamb from the start of the bell as Zepeda came out aggressive. He fought well off the front foot and went to the body early. In round two, he turned up the heat in attacking the body of Arboleda relentlessly before landing a left hook that put his opponent on the canvas.
Arboleda got up and tried to fight strong only to be dropped two more times. The final knockdown saw him rolling around on the canvas in tremendous pain. Zepeda remains undefeated with another solid performance as his stock continues to rise. In the post-fight interview, his team clarified that they are ready to fight anyone in the division.
VICTOR MORALES MAKES A STATEMENT IN A VICTORY OVER DIEGO DE LA HOYA
Featherweight prospect Victor Morales (18-0-1, 9KO) made a statement with a second-round stoppage against Diego De La Hoya (24-2, 11KO).
Morales asked for this fight against De La Hoya looking to prove he’s ready for the next level. The fight started slow and was on pace to be a ten-round chess match. In the second round, Morales came out extremely aggressive and attacked De La Hoya with a powerful hook that busted his nose.
Morales was like a shark smelling blood and wasted no time jumping on De La Hoya before dropping him with a crushing left hook. De La Hoya got up and tried to fight back before tasting the canvas again from another punishing shot to the chin. This time unable to recover, De La Hoya got counted out in a devastating second-round defeat.
It was the statement-making performance that Morales needed. He leaves with the WBA Inter-Continental title.
DAVID STEVENS EARNS A TOUGH VICTORY OVER VETERAN MARCO PERIBAN
Super middleweight prospect David Stevens (13-0, 9KO) got all he could handle against former title challenger Marco Periban (26-7-1, 17KO).
The veteran came out looking to establish that he wasn’t a shot fighter by working the jab and landing the occasional right hand. In round three, Stevens landed a solid punch that had Periban hurt up against the ropes. The young prospect got over-aggressive and was caught off balance by a left hook that caused his glove to touch the canvas, resulting in the referee ruling it a knockdown.
As the fight was coming to an end, Periban continued to have moments landing right hands and body shots, proving he was still a live dog. Stevens pressed forward with power shots right hands and body shots of his own to close the show strong.
When the final bell sounded, two judges scored it 78-73 and one had it 77-74 in favor of Stevens. 3Kings Boxing has no problem with any of the scorecards. This was a good learning process for Stevens against a tough veteran.
