William Zepeda and Maxi Hughes weighed in successfully on Friday for their 12-round lightweight headliner on DAZN Saturday night on March 16th at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
(Photo credit: Golden Boy Promotions)
Hughes: The Underdog’s Struggle
Few people are giving Hughes (26-6-2, 5 KOs) much of a chance of winning this fight against the unbeaten Zepeda (29-0, 25 KOs).
Although Hughes, 34, fought well in his last fight in July against George Kambosos Jr. and arguably deserved the win, it’s a different story for him going up against Zepeda.
He’s a much bigger puncher than Kambosos Jr. was and throws a lot of punches that Hughes won’t be able to match. It’s not a matter IF Zepeda wins this fight against Hughes on Saturday. It’s how he’ll do it.
Weights:
- William Zepeda 133.8 vs. Maxi Hughes 135
- Floyd Schofield 134.8 vs. Eteuri Suero 135
- Eric Priest 159.6 vs. Jose Sanchez 160
The Disruptor: Zepeda’s Path to the Top
“I’m comfortable placing Zepeda 4th, 5th, or 6th,” said Chris Mannix to DAZN Boxing about where William Zepeda ranks at lightweight. “If Zepeda fought any of those guys [Gervonta Davis, Shakur Stevenson, and Vasily Lomachenko], they’re kind of coin-flip fights.
“To defeat William Zepeda, you’ve either got to match his output, which is next to impossible, or you’ve got to be able to catch him between the punches and hurt him and potentially knock him out. So far, nobody has been able to do that.
“I look at Zepeda as a guy with the talent and the ability to beat Stevenson, to beat Tank Davis, to beat Lomachenko, and beat the top guys in the 135-pound division.
“He just needs the opportunity, and he’s starting to do that because if you look at some of the wins that Zepeda has had over the last few years, they’re getting better and better.
“JoJo Diaz, at the time, was a pretty good win for Zepeda. He just completely wiped him out. He completely overwhelmed him and blanked him largely on the scorecards. Fast forward to Mercito Gesta. That was a good win for Zepeda. He stops him in that fight.
“So, he’s collecting B and B-level wins and slowly progressing towards that weight class. He’s probably not in that three-to-five range, but when the time comes for him to face one of those guys, I think he’ll be competitive, if not a favorite, in some of those fights,” said Mannix about Zepeda.
