Zepeda overwhelms Hughes with intense pressure, earns title shot
Schofield dominates dirty Suero in DQ win; highly touted Iriarte shines in pro debut
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An absolutely relentless William Zepeda earned a lightweight world title shot on Saturday night.
Zepeda beat and battered Maxi Hughes nonstop, especially with a withering body attack, until Hughes’ corner called off the fight after the fourth round of their dual IBF and WBA lightweight title elimination bout that headlined a Golden Boy Promotions card on DAZN at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
The victory positioned Zepeda, who nobody calls out, for a 135-pound title opportunity in two organizations. He is now the mandatory challenger for the winner of the vacant IBF title fight between former unified champions Vasiliy Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr., who meet on May 11 in Perth Australia.
Zepeda is also now the No. 1 contender for WBA titlist Gervonta Davis, who likely will defend against Frank Martin in June.
It was typical Zepeda, who threw punches in bunches — more than 100 per round — and never let fellow southpaw Hughes get into to the fight after a decent first round that he won on two of the three judges’ scorecards.
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