William Zepeda is both the IBF and WBA mandatory lightweight challenger
Turns out DAZN will be counterprogramming ESPN’s Shakur Stevenson vs Artem Harutyunyan show (and Jorge Masvidal vs Nate Diaz) on July 6th, as Salvador Rodriguez reports that William Zepeda will meet Giovianni Cabrera that evening.
Zepeda (30-0, 26 KO) is currently Vasiliy Lomachenko’s mandatory challenger after bulldozing Maxi Hughes in March and has been Gervonta Davis’ WBA mandatory for a hot minute, but neither is likely to call his number anytime soon; Lomachenko just claimed his belt last week and the WBA is loath to order mandatories for their more lucrative champions.
Respect to him for staying busy against another credible opponent. Cabrera (22-1, 7 KO) didn’t make many fans in last July’s split decision loss to Isaac Cruz, but he did manage to hang with and frustrate one of the division’s most aggressive fighters while eating his best shots without issue. Even if he’s not likely to put a dent in “Camaron,” odds are he won’t roll over, either.
