A fight between unbeaten #1 WBA lightweight contender William Zepeda and Giovanni Cabrera is rumored to be in the works for a summer clash.
Zepeda (30-0, 26 KOs) is on the doorstep of a title challenge from WBA regular lightweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis after his fourth-round knockout win against Maxi Hughes on March 16th.
You can argue that Cabrera is an upgrade to Huges for Zepeda, but not a big enough one to get fans excited about this match-up. Fans would have preferred a better option for Zepeda, like Keyshawn Davis, Andy Cruz, or Raymond Muratalla.
Tank is already expected to defend against PBC fighter Frank Martin next in June, so he won’t be available for a fight against Zepeda until later this year.
Cabrera (22-1, 7 KOs) lost a narrow 12-round split decision to Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz last July in a close contest. The outcome was decided by the aggressiveness of the tough, brawling Mexican fighter.
The 29-year-old Seattle, Washington native Cabrera bounced back from his loss to Pitbull to defeat little-known Ricardo Quiroz (13-4, 7 KOs) by a ten-round unanimous decision on March 30th in a fight that went below the radar of most boxing fans.
Zepeda Playing it Safe?
For boxing fans, this isn’t the fight that fans were hoping to see with the 27-year-old Zepeda after his call out of Shakur Stevenson.
Golden Boy Promotions boss Oscar De La Hoya had said that he wanted him to fight Shakur next, and the New Jersey native offered him a free title shot for his July 6th fight date at the Prudential Center. With Zepeda instead apparently choosing to fight Cabrera, it’s a big disappointment.
Fans wanted to see Zepeda at least fight a top-five-ranked contender instead of a guy rated near the bottom of the lightweight rankings. Cabrera is ranked #13 WBC.
If Zepeda is going to fight a contender instead of taking Shakur up on his offer, he should have at least chosen one of these contenders:
Floyd Schofield
Edwin De Los Santos
Jose Valenzuela
George Kambosos Jr.
Angel Fierro
Gary Cully