Fight Results: William Zepeda Mows Down Maxi Hughes

Another day at the office for William Zepeda.

Zepeda of San Mateo Atenco, Mexico (30-0, 26 KOs) delivered a four-round beatdown of Maxi Priest of Yorkshire, England (26-7-2, 5 KOs) to solidify his status as a top lightweight division contender and one of the most exciting action fighters in boxing.

Zepeda retains his minor WBA Continental lightweight title and wins the WBA/IBF eliminator. He is also the top contender in the WBC. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

Offensive Firepower Too Much For Hughes

William Zepeda landed 58 body shots in four rounds on Maxi Hughes. Photo: Golden Boy Boxing

Hughes put on a brave effort as long as he could. Lacking the power to threaten Zepeda, Hughes let his hands go early and was light on his feet, circling him. Zepeda took his time assessing Hughes but still outlanded him 21 punches to 15 for Hughes.

Things only got worse for Hughes. Zepeda’s relentless volume punching style and hand speed, combined with his freakish stamina, make “El Cameron” a fighting machine. As he did in his last fight against Mercito Gesta, Zepeda ripped Hughes to the body, followed by power jabs and headshots. When a vicious right hook halfway through the second round stung Hughes, he was forced to back up, and the end was already in sight.

Hughes stayed in front of Zepeda and gave his best, but he could only stand up to the punishing body shots for so long. Zepeda added uppercuts to the mix. It was a lot. Hughes was completely outgunned.

With Hughes’ wife Sophie looking on with concern, Hughes’ corner did the right thing.  “I can’t let him overpower you in there. I’m pulling you,” said trainer Sean O’Hagan, and asked David Fields to call it a day.

“30 days at the office, It’s 30 different camps, 30 different wins. All I can do is thank my camp, thank everybody, and let’s keep going,” said Zepeda. Zepeda explained the game plan was to go low, and then move up. “Pressure him, and that’s what happened in the fight. That’s what we worked for.”

Bring On Lightweight's Best, Says William Zepeda

Oscar De La Hoya believes William Zepeda is ready to face any of the top lightweights including Shakur Stevenson. Photo: Golden Boy Boxing

At age 27, Zepeda is hitting his stride and is ready for the top talent in the division, which is among the most talent-rich in boxing. Zepeda knows the score. “It just happens to be that’s the way it is. We keep on working. We know whoever’s ahead of us has a lot of experience. We just have to keep on working,” acknowledged Zepeda.

When asked about his future, Zepeda delighted the sold out crowd at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas by speaking in English, saying he would be “the next champion of Mexico.

“I am ready for Shakur, Gervonta,” said Zepeda, then switching back to Spanish. “I’m ready for whoever. Whoever is on that list we’re going after. Now who has to do the homework is Oscar De La Hoya.”

Golden Boy Boxing's chairman De La Hoya called Zepeda relentless.

“Maxi Hughes is a tough ex-world champion. It was very impressive. We believe in William. He’s ready for anybody. We’re going to call out whoever wants to fight William. I would love to see him with anybody.”

Then De La Hoya called out the targets. “Shakur – if you’re watching, let’s get it on.” De La Hoya said he’d also happily match Zepeda against the winner of the upcoming bout between Vasiliy Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr. on May 12 in Perth, Australia.

“William Zepeda is ready for anybody.”

So do yall want to see me fight a machine next? I do 🙋🏾‍♂️

— Shakur Stevenson (@ShakurStevenson) March 17, 2024

During the fight, Shakur Stevenson seemed to signal his interest in the matchup, but talk on social media is cheap. We’d love to see it, and it would go a long way in restoring Stevenson’s reputation after his stinker fight against Edwin De Los Santos.

Schofield Gets Win Via Dirty Fighter DQ

Floyd Schofield survived a rough outing, no thanks to dirty Estueri Suero. Photo: Golden Boy Boxing

In the co-main event, Floyd Schofield of Austin, Texas (17-0, 12 KOs) won via a fifth-round disqualification against Estueri Suero of the Dominican Republic (13-2, 10 KOs) in a wild, messy fight.

Cutman Christopher Diaz and referee Raul Caiz Jr. both had a lot of work to do. First, Schofield suffered a nasty cut above the left eyebrow early after he landed a hard left hook, then ran into the Dominican. Schofield has a bad habit of falling in on top of his power punches and running into his opponents.

Those hard left hooks kept coming. Suero defaulted to fighting dirty, which isn’t new for him. He has bitten and fouled opponents in previous fights. Caiz Jr. wasn’t having it, docking him a point in the second round and another in the fourth after multiple warnings for picking Schofield up to squash his offense. As Schofield came after Suero with explosive left hands, Suero kept acting up. The final straw for Caiz Jr. was a deliberate low blow in the fifth round, and he waved off the fight at 2:07 of the round.

Scholfield said he was aware of Suero’s reputation for fighting dirty but said the fight started clean, so he hoped for the best. “It was rough because after I got that headbutt, I couldn’t see. I was flying blind out of my right eye. I tried to get the knockout, but man he was dirty,” said Schofield. Schofield said Suero resorted to his tricks when he hurt him. “Damn, he shouldn’t resort to those tactics. But he was doing what he could to survive. Hats off to him, no hate. It’s boxing.”

Schofield landed 37 of 105 punches thrown (35%), against just 25 of 157 punches for Suero (16%).

Eric Priest Gets Lucky 13

Middleweight Eric Priest of Wichita Falls, Texas (13-0, 8 KOs) put in ten solid rounds against Jose Sanchez Charles of Mexico (24-5-1, 12 KOs) for a lopsided decision win. Scores were 100-90, 99-91, and 99-91. Priest buzzed the sturdy Charles several times with hooks behind 47 landed jabs, versus just 10 for Charles. Sanchez fought hard for his purse but didn’t have the power to keep Priest off him.

Priest landed 92 of 310 punches thrown (30%), Sanchez 63 of 22 punches thrown (28%).

Kalkrueth Cruises To TKO Win

Tristan Kalkreuth get it done in round 2 🥊

Watch #ZepedaHughes live on https://t.co/FoiaUucI53 pic.twitter.com/Ws2Gc4wDvb

— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) March 17, 2024

Cruiserweight Tristan Kalkrueth of Texas (13-1, 10 KOs) continued his path back from his first loss, notching a tidy second-round TKO over Marquise Weston of Tacoma, Washington (15-3, 8 KOs). Kalkrueth caught Weston with an uppercut and followed with a left hook. Weston took a knee, and referee at 1:32 of the round. Kalkrueth now trains with Brian “Bomac” McIntyre and it seems a good fit in the early going.

“I was just working my defense, getting a gauge of how hard he hits. I felt like it wasn't really nothing. So I started pressing on the gas, and I got the job done,” said Kalkrueth. “I knew the right hand was gonna be there and I was anxious to throw it. But I kind of slowed myself down and worked behind the jab, even though I saw I hurt him with the right hand. I finished on the inside.”

Kalkrueth says he sees a fight down the road with Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez of Mexico (45-1, 30 KOs), who has a title fight on March 30 against Arlen Goulamirian of Armenia (27-0, 19 KOs) for Goulamirian’s WBA belt.

Kalkrueth took the opportunity to admonish fans to stop being hung up about losses.

“I want to get back to the old era the “Marvelous” (Marvin) Hagler era. I mean, like, who cares about a record. People want to see the best fight the best,” said Kalkrueth, drawing applause from the fans in Las Vegas.

Iriarte Wins Pro Debut

Keep your eye on former amateur champion Joel Iriarte of Bakerfield, California. Photo: Golden Boy Boxing

Promising welterweight Joel Iriarte of Bakersfield (1-0, 1 KO) had the kind of successful professional debut any fighter could want. Admittedly, Iriarte had an opponent who was a limited threat in Bryan Carguacundo of Ecuador (3-6-2).

Caraguacundo was game and came right at Iriarte, who landed a hard right hook for his first punch of the fight. The 20-year-old prospect didn’t rush, stepping back to avoid smothering his power shots and waiting until the second round to drop the hammer in the form of an uppercut followed by a right hook for the second-round KO. Keep your eye on this former amateur champion.