William Zepeda will keep active as he awaits his overdue title shot.
The Ring’s No. 3-rated lightweight had room to spare at the scales for his upcoming bout versus Chicago’s Giovanni Cabrera. Their scheduled 12-round main event takes place above the divisional limit but Zepeda made a point to arrive right at 135 pounds.
Cabrera was 137 pounds for Saturday’s DAZN headliner from Toyota Arena in Ontario, California.
Mexico’s Zepeda (30-0, 26 knockouts) is in the unique position as the number-one contender across all four major sanctioning bodies. He became the WBA and IBF mandatory after a fourth-round stoppage of Maxi Hughes (26-7-2, 5 KOs) on March 16 in Las Vegas.
The high-volume puncher was already the number-one contender with the WBC and WBO headed into that contest.
Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) and Vasiliy Lomachenko (18-3, 12 KOs) hold the WBA and IBF belts, respectively. They are also The Ring’s No. 1 and No. 2-rated lightweights and currently in talks for a November unification clash. It would also come with The Ring championship at stake.
That leaves WBC titlist Shakur Stevenson (21-0, 10 KOs) and WBO beltholder Denys Berinchyk (19-0, 9 KOs) as Zepeda’s best options. Stevenson, No. 4 at 135, defends versus Artem Harutyunyan atop an ESPN show Saturday in Newark, New Jersey. Berinchyk, No. 5 at 135, is mulling his next option after his May 18 title win over Emanuel Navarrete (38-2-1, 31 KOs) in San Diego.
The desired target is Stevenson, which led to Saturday’s matchup.
Cabrera (22-1, 7 KOs) matches Stevenson’s dimensions as a tall (for lightweight), rangy southpaw. The 29-year-old Chicago native has a flair for making opponents look bad in the ring. Proof came in his narrow split decision defeat to Isaac Cruz (26-2-1, 18 KOs) last July 29 in Las Vegas.
Cabrera returned to the win column with a ten-round decision over Ricardo Quiroz (13-4, 7 KOs) on March 30 in San Antonio, Texas.
DAZN main undercard, 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT
10 rounds, flyweight
Ricardo Rafael Sandoval (24-2, 17 KOs), Rialto, California, 111.8 pounds
Angel Acosta (24-4, 22 KOs), San Juan, Puerto Rico, 111.6 pounds
10 rounds, junior featherweight
Manuel Flores (17-1, 13 KOs), Coachella, California, 124.4 pounds
Nohel Arambulet (23-6-2, 13 KOs), Las Vegas via Coro, Venezuela, 128.8 pounds
6 rounds, welterweight
Joel Iriarte (2-0, 2 KOs), Bakersfield, California, 146.2 pounds
Yainel Alvarez (3-4-2, 1 KO), Hutto, Texas via Ciego de Avila, Cuba, 146.8 pounds
Preliminary undercard, Golden Boy YouTube channel, 5:05 p.m. ET/2:05 p.m. PT
10 rounds, junior welterweight
Alex Martin (18-5, 6 KOs), Chicago, 141.6 pounds
Pedro Campa (35-3-1, 24 KOs), Hermosillo, Mexico, 140.8 pounds
6 rounds, bantamweight
Gael Cabrera (4-0, 2 KOs), Sonora, Mexico, 123 ½ pounds
Mychaquell Shields (2-4, 0 KOs), Alpine, California, 123.8 pounds
6 rounds, junior lightweight
Joshua Garcia (8-0, 4 KOs), Moreno Valley, California, 132 pounds
Jason Buenaobra (10-10-3, 4 KOs), Pasay City, Manila, Philippines, 130.8 pounds
4 rounds, junior middleweight
Anthony Saldivar (6-0, 2 KOs), Ontario, 155.4 pounds
Roman Canto (15-17-3, 9 KOs), Makati City, Manila, Philippines, 156.8 pounds
4 rounds, junior lightweight
Daniel Luna (3-1, 3 KOs), Victorville, California, 129.4 pounds
Joseph Walker (1-1, 0 KOs), Forrest City, Arkansas, 132.8 pounds
8 rounds, junior featherweight
Japhethlee Llamido (11-1, 4 KOs), Orange, California, 123.4 pounds
Ryan Lee Allen (10-7-1, 5 KOs), Las Vegas, 122.8 pounds
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