Jose Zepeda 143.9 lbs vs. Kendo Castaneda 143.9 lbs weigh-in results for Tuesday on ESPN

By Boxing News - 07/06/2020 - Comments

By Sean Jones: Light welterweight contender Jose “Chon” Zepeda (31-2, 25 KOs) weighed in at 143.9 pounds on Monday for his scheduled 10-round bout against Kendo Castaneda (17-1, 8 KOs) on Tuesday.

Castaneda, 26, weighed in at 143.9 lbs as well. Zepeda-Castaneda will be taking place at The Bubble at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Zepeda is a big favorite in this fight, and it’s going to take an individual performance from Castaneda for him to come out with the victory.

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Jose Zepeda facing replacement opponent

Zepeda was previously scheduled to face former IBF light-welterweight champion Ivan Baranchyk (20-1, 13 KOs), but the Belarusian fighter suffered an injury training and had to pull out of the fight. Castaneda was then brought in as a replacement to face Zepeda.

It’s not the same quality of opponent, but it’s the best that the organizers of the event could do on short notice. Zepeda will have an excellent opportunity to showcase his talent against Castaneda. It probably would have been the same results if Baranchyk didn’t get injured. Zepeda is an incredible talent, and he’ll be hard to beat for anyone in the 140-lb division today.

The highly skilled former world title challenger Zepeda, 31, will be looking to add another win to his resume. He’s coming off of a superb ten-round unanimous decision over former two-division world champion Jose ‘Sniper’ Pedraza last September in Las Vegas.

Tuesday’s Top Rank promoted card will be shown on ESPN and ESPN Deportes. The start time for the card is at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT.

Arum gives Castaneda credit for stepping up

“In the main events, you have four fighters hoping to seize an amazing opportunity live on ESPN,” said Top Rank head honcho Bob Arum. “Jose Zepeda is one of the world’s elite 140-pounders, and I credit Kendo for taking on this challenge.”

Last year, Zepeda lost a questionable 12 round majority decision to WBC 140-lb champion Jose Ramirez in Fresno, California. The Ramirez-Zepeda fight took place in Ramirez’s hometown, and many fans believe that’s the reason why the judges gave him the victory. Boxing News 24 scored the fight for Zepeda eight rounds to four.

A year has passed since Zepeda’s controversial defeat, and he’s since fought to a three-round no contest against Eleazar Valenzuela last year in May, and beaten Jose Pedraza in September of 2019.

Castaneda, 26, is coming off of a 10 round majority decision to Yomar Alamo last February in Kissimmee, Florida.

“I’m a professional. I’m coming to MGM Grand ready to prove, once again, why I’m one of the elite junior welterweights,” said Zepeda.

Hopefully, Zepeda can get through the fight with Castaneda without suffering a fight-ending injury. Zepeda has terrible luck in getting hurt against Eleazar Valenzuela and Terry Flanagan. In his second round injury stoppage loss to Flanagan in July 2015, Zepeda dislocated his left shoulder and couldn’t continue after round two.

Other weights on Tuesday’s Zepeda-Castaneda card:

  • Andy Vences 129.5 lbs vs. Luis Alberto Lopez 128.2 lbs
  • Andres Cortes 132.5 lbs vs. Alejandro Salinas 132.4 lbs
  • Gabriel Muratalla 118.9 lbs vs. Sergio Lopez 119.1 lbs
  • Genaro Gamez 146 lbs vs. Reymond Yanong 141.8 lbs
  • Eric Puente 135 lbs vs. Diego Elizondo 135.9 lbs