By Max Seitelman: Former IBF light-welterweight champion Ivan Baranchyk and Jose Zepeda (32-2, 25 KOs) have agreed to a fight on October 3 on ESPN. The two were supposed to have fought last month on July 7, but Baranchyk (20-1, 13 KOs) hurt his ribs training, according to @MikeCoppinger.
The fight has now been rescheduled in less than two months from now on October 3 on ESPN.
The 27-year-old Baranchyk, who goes by the nickname, ‘The Beast,’ lost his IBF 140-lb title to Josh Taylor by a 12 round unanimous decision in May 2019. Taylor and Baranchyk were competing in the World Boxing Super Series tournament.
Baranchyk vs. Zepeda is a real 50-50 fight that could go either way, depending on what the judges are looking for. Zepeda is the better boxer of the to, but that doesn’t mean the judges will appreciate his work.
Baranchyk gave Josh Taylor a tough fight
The hard-hitting Russian fighter Baranchyk was knocked down twice in the sixth round, but he fought well in the second half of the contest to rally after Taylor gassed out.
Ultimately, it was too much ground for Baranchyk to make up, and he ended up losing by the scores 115-111, 117-109, and 115-111.
Baranchyk, 27, came back from his loss to Taylor to defeat the always tough Gabriel Bracero (25-4-1, 6 KOs) by a 4th round knockout on October 5 on the undercard of Gennadiy Golovkin vs. Sergiy Derevyanchenko at Maidson Square Garden in New York.
Thus far, Baranchyk hasn’t fought this year due to his rib injury, but he’s ready to go now.
Zepeda, 31, lost a close 12 round majority decision to WBC light-welterweight champion Jose Ramirez last year in February 2019. A lot of boxing fans had Zepeda as the better of the two, but it didn’t go his way. No rematch was given to him, which was a surprise.
Ramirez’s promoters at Top Rank chose to put him in with WBO-140lb champion Maurice Hooker rather than take a chance of having him lose to Zepeda if the scoring didn’t go his way again.
Zepeda looking good
In Zepeda’s last two fights, he beat Kendo Castaneda and Jose Pedraza by a pair of 10 round decisions.
Zepeda will need to sit down on his shots a little bit more in this fight against Baranchyk if he wants to win it because the judges may favor the harder puncher of the two. That would be the Russian Baranchyk.
A lot of fans want to see a rematch between Taylor and Baranchyk, considering how exciting their match was. Taylor went through an equally grueling war against Regis Prograis in the finals of the WBSS tournament last October, and he just barely won that fight too.
Taylor is fighting next month in defending his IBF 140lb title against his mandatory Apinun Khongsong on September 26.