Maxi Hughes (26-7-2, 5 KOs) lost a disappointing fourth-round TKO to William Zepeda (30-0, 26 KOs) in the IBF/WBA lightweight title bout Saturday night at the Cosmopolitan. He didn't make excuses after his accident. Las Vegas.
Hughes, 34, said he was hit with a strong body shot in the fourth inning and was unable to keep up with 27-year-old Zepeda's high workload, which was the reason for his loss. Zepeda was a punching machine tonight, averaging over 100 punches per round in a short bout.
Maxi feels he could have won the fight if he had taken the best shot, but was unable to reach Zepeda before landing the big punch. Thats how its going to be. Hughes says Zepeda has fought stronger fighters before and it wasn't Zepeda's strength.
Zepeda's Edge: Work rate
“What I've been impressed with is his work rate. I've met a lot of styles and people like me. It's all about boxing,” said Maxi Hughes on Saturday night after four rounds of defeating William Zepeda. He spoke to the media while looking back on his TKO loss.
Initially, Hughes roughly matched Zepeda's work rate in the first round, but the Mexican warrior pulled away from the second round, where he focused on throwing non-stop shots.
It would have been interesting to see what kind of damage Hughes would have done if he had tried to match Zepeda's punches with punches. After the fight, Zepeda's face was heavily marked, indicating that he had put on a lot of flesh during Hughes' short fight. He just couldn't keep up.
“I could have gotten him in one shot, but he got me in that one shot before I had a chance to do it to him,” Hughes said. “Hit him before he hits me,” Hughes said of what he could have done to improve his chances of beating Zepeda.
Respect to Zepeda, Respect to Division
“I was trying to create space. I did my best, but I was close. This division is stacked with opponents. Tonight he's in first place, so he has a chance to fight for the title. But none of them. It's a tough fight. It's all a 50-50 fight. He has as good a chance as anyone,” Hughes said of Zepeda.
“We'll see who he fights next, but he's a good fighter. I respect him and take my hat off to him,” Hughes said of Zepeda.
