William “El Cameron” Zepeda, 30-0; 26, stopped Maxi “Maximus” Hughes in the fourth round of a scheduled 12-round eliminator for the IBF and WBA lightweight titles at the inside of The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on Saturday night.
The WBC No 1, WBO No 3, and IBF No 6-rated Zepeda completely dominated the fight from the first round against the IBF No 4, WBA No 5, WBC No 6 and WBO No 14-rated Hughes, 26-7-2; 5.
Hughes was never in the fight as Zepeda’s non-stop punching broke down his opponent who had no answer to the stronger Zepeda, before Hughes’ corner called the fight off.
Zepeda now wants to meet one of the leading IBF and WBA contenders where the titles are vacant.
The current lightweight champions are Shakur Stevenson (WBC), Gervonta Davis (WBA) and the IBF and WBO titles are vacant.
FIFTH-ROUND DISQUALIFICATION
On the undercard the WBA No 4 lightweight Floyd “Kid Austin” Schofield, 17-0; 12, won on a fifth-round disqualification against Esteuri “El Puma” Suero, 13-2; 10. Suero was deducted a point for fouls in rounds two and four and subsequently disqualified in the fifth round for a low blow. The time was 2:07.
In a middleweight bout Eric Priest, 13-0; 8, won on a ten-round unanimous points decision against Jose Sanchez, 21-5-1; 12. Scores were 100-90, 99-91, 99-91.
Cruiserweight Tristan “Sweet T” Kalkreuth, 13-1; 10, won on a second-round knockout against Marquice Weston, 15-3-1; 8. The time was 1:33.
On his debut, welterweight Joel Iriarte won on a second-round stoppage against Bryan Carguacundo 3-6-2; 0.
JOE JOYCE WINS HIS COMEBACK FIGHT
England’s WBC No 12-rated heavyweight “Juggernaut” Joe Joyce, 16-2; 15, won on a tenth-round knockout over Kash Ali, 21-3; 12, on Saturday night at Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England.
Joyce, a 2016 Olympic silver medallist and former WBO interim world champion, smashed Ali to defeat at 2:53 into the tenth round.
Middleweight Natham Heaney, 18-0-1; 6, who is rated at WBO No 5, IBF No 11, WBA No 12 and WBC No 15, battled to a hard-fought twelve-round draw against Brad Pauls, 18-1-1; 10. The scores were 116-113 Heaney, 115-114 Pauls, 114-114. Heaney retained his British title.
The WBC No 5, IBF No 8 and WBA No 14 junior featherweight Liam Davies, 16-0; 8, won on a second-round knockout over IBF No 12 Erik Robles Ayala, 15-2, 9. An uppercut followed by a left hook dropped Ayala, but he beat the count. However, Davies immediately floored him again to end it. The time was 1:17.
In a super middleweight bout Zach Parker, 24-1; 17, won on a ten-round unanimous points decision over former WBA world champion Tyron Zeuge, 27-2-1; 15. Zeuge scored a knockdown in the second round but this was not enough as Parker won with scores of 96-94, 97-92, and 98-91.
WBO No 11 junior lightweight Dennis McCann, 15-0-1; 8, won on a 12-round unanimous points decision over Brad Strand, 11-1; 3. McCann won with scores of 116-111, 116-112, 118-111.
WBO No 12 welterweight Eithan James, 12-1; 10, was dropped by Owen Cooper, 10-0; 4, in the first round. In the ninth round, James’ corner pulled their man out. Cooper claimed the WBO European and English titles.
Junior welterweight Pierce O’Leary, 14-0; 8, stopped Hovhannes Martirosyan, 16-1; 10, in the ninth round to retain the WBC International title.
ROBERTO DURAN HOSPITALISED
One of the legends of the ring, 72-year-old Roberto “Manos de Piedra” Duran, a four-division world champion has been hospitalised and is suffering from a “complete atrioventricular blockage.” Duran is reportedly in a stable condition and will be given a pacemaker.
TREVOR BARNES WINS IN TWO ROUNDS
Elsewhere, Mississippi heavyweight Travorus “Bear” Barnes, 5-0, won on a second-round stoppage against Duke “Nuke” Sensley (0-1) at the Mel Ott Centre in Gretna, LA.
TAYLOR-CATTERALL REMATCH POSTPONED AGAIN
Josh Taylor has suffered an injury in his training camp and his scheduled fight with Jack Catterall on 27 April has been postponed. The fight has been rescheduled for May 25 at the same venue, the First Direct Arena in Leeds, England. Taylor beat Catterall by a controversial split decision in February 2022 and this makes three times that their rematch has been postponed.
KING WALSH WINS IN NINE ROUNDS
Junior middleweight 'King’ Callum Walsh, 10-0; 8, stopped the game Dauren Yeleussinov, 11-4-1; 10, in the ninth round when the referee stopped the fight on Friday night in The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The time was 1:56. Walsh claimed the vacant WBC Continental Americas title.
Featherweight Feargal McCrory, 16-0; 8, stopped Carlos Carlson, 25-8; 16, in the third round. McCrory dropped Carlson with a body shot and the referee waved it off during McCrory’s follow-up barrage. The time was 2:07. McCrory claimed the WBA Continental Americas title.
Long-time Long Island fan favourite Cletus ‘The Hebrew Hammer’ Seldin, 28-1; 23, scored an eight-round majority decision over Jose Angulo, 16-8; 9, in a junior welterweight fight. The 37-year-old Seldin dropped Angulo with an overhand right in the first round. A Seldin left hand put Angulo down again in round two. However, Angulo managed to go the full eight rounds. Seldin won with scores of 78-72, 77-73, 75-75.
Junior welterweight Reshat ‘The Albanian Bear’ Mati, 15-0; 8, outpointed Irving ‘Poderoso’ Macias, 15-5; 10, over eight one-sided rounds. Scores were 80-72-79-73, 80-72.
Light heavyweight ‘Irish’ Joe Ward, 11-1; 7, won on a second-round knockout against Derrick ‘Take it to the Bank’ Webster, 29-5-1; 14. Webster was down three times and the time was 2:25.