William Zepeda and Maxi Hughes successfully weighed in for DAZN's 12-round lightweight headliner on Friday, March 16th at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
(Photo provided by: Golden Boy Promotion)
Hughes: Struggle of the Underdog
Few are valuing Hughes (26-6-2, 5 KOs)'s chances of winning this fight against undefeated Zepeda (29-0, 25 KOs).
Hughes, 34, fought well in his last fight against George Kambosos Jr. in July and probably deserved the win, but facing Zepeda will be a different story.
He is a much bigger puncher than Kambosos Jr. and throws a lot of punches that Hughes cannot match. I have no problem with Zepeda winning against Hughes on Saturday. That's his way.
weight:
- William Zepeda 133.8 vs. Maxi Hughes 135
- Floyd Schofield 134.8 vs. Eteuri Suero 135
- Eric Priest 159.6 vs. Jose Sanchez 160
The Disruptor: Zepeda's Path to the Top
Regarding William Zepeda's lightweight rankings, Chris Mannix told DAZN Boxing, “I'm comfortable putting Zepeda at No. 4, No. 5, No. 6.” “If Zepeda fights them.” [Gervonta Davis, Shakur Stevenson, and Vasily Lomachenko]they're kind of a coin toss battle.
“To beat William Zepeda, you have to match his output, which is nearly impossible, or you can catch him between punches and hurt him and potentially knock him out. Must be. So far, no one has been able to do it.
“I see Zepeda as a guy with the talent and ability to beat Stevenson, beat Tank Davis, beat Lomachenko, beat the top guys in the 135-pound division.
“He just needs an opportunity and he's starting to get it, because if you look at the wins that Zepeda has had over the last few years, he's getting better and better.
“Jojo Diaz was a pretty good win for Zepeda at the time. He completely obliterated him. He completely overwhelmed him and left most of the scorecard blank. Fast forward to Mercito Jesta It was a good win for Zepeda. He stops him in that fight.
“So he's accumulating wins at the B and B levels and slowly progressing towards that weight class. He's probably not in the 3-on-5 range but against one of those guys. I think when the time comes, I'll be competitive, if not the favorite, in some of those games,” Mannix said of Zepeda.
