Maxi Hughes and William Zepeda are in negotiations for a possible IBF lightweight final eliminator on March 16th in Las Vegas.
This is a tough match-up for the #5 ranked IBF contender Hughes (26-6-2, 5 KOs) because he’s not much of a puncher and is coming off a loss to George Kambosos Jr. in July, albeit a controversial one.
The winner of the Hughes-Zepeda fight, if it happens, will decide the mandatory for the Vasily Lomachenko-George Kambosos Jr. winner. Those are fighting for the vacant IBF lightweight title in April. Devin Haney recently vacated the belt.
On paper, this is a slam dunk win for Zepeda (29-0, 25 KOs) because he’s too big, too powerful, and too busy for Hughes, who is a pot-shot mover type of fighter. Zepeda will catch up to Hughes and chop him down like he did his last opponent, Mercito Gesta.
“With him being a lightweight and being heavily promoted by Golden Boy, I have seen him the last couple of years, so I know exactly what he’s about,” said Hughes to ProBox TV about Zepeda.
“What you see is what you get. He’s an aggressive, come-forward, high-volume puncher. He’s a southpaw but he’s not an awkward southpaw like myself. He doesn’t make it tricky. He comes at you.”
Zepeda has been moved slowly throughout his nine-year professional career, but he’s finally on the verge of putting himself in a position to fight for a world title. Recently, Zepeda has beaten these fighters:
– Mercito Gesta: TKO 6
– Jaime Arboleda: KO 2
– Joseph Diaz: UD 12
– Rene Alvarado: UD 10
Zepeda took some heat from boxing fans for reportedly rejecting a fight against Shakur Stevenson, which would have given him a lot of badly needed attention for his career.
In hindsight, Zepeda should have taken the fight against Shakur because he might have won if he’d might have won if he could catch up to him.
