Zepeda Stops Hughes, Crawford vs. Eubank Jr. Axed, Sanchez vs. Fury Close, Schofield Theatrics!

William Zepeda achieved the unthinkable against Maxi Hughes this past Saturday. This fight was for the rare double-mandatory position, receiving high marks from both the WBA and the IBF.

Zepeda walked into this fight as a highly-ranked player in the lightweight division. While the eyes and ears of the fans have been locked in on major faces like Lomachenko, Gervonta “Tank” Davis, and Shakur Stevenson, Zepeda has been quietly building his resume to the top of the division.

He has done most of his work in silence, knocking out his opponents in crippling fashion. His volume punching is iron-solid, earning him shoutouts from many of the top Mexican fighters from the past and present. Zepeda's style is not much different from the typical “Mexican-style” template that many have attributed to Mexican legends that paved the way for the strikers we watch today.

He crowds his opponents with strikes that they can't counter. With six, sometimes seven-strike combinations coming your way, it is difficult to find a window to counter. One shot is easy, two shots would normally require a catch and counter. The only problem for Maxi Hughes was that Zepeda was no two-shot boxer.

Zepeda wastes no movement with his punches, which is why he can save so much energy and throw so many punches in sequence. This is made clear when analyzing how Zepeda sets his punches up. Zepeda's frame comes from his foot, shoulder, and forearm placement. When Zepeda is at close range, he uses his lead forearm as a launch point for the opposite hand. If his opponent doesn't respect his power, they will have no choice but to bend the knee eventually.

This dangerous race against time is exactly where Maxi Hughes found himself. Another Zepeda throws the first, second, and third phase of punches out in favor of an all-out assault that can leave even the toughest fighter rocked to the core. The fight was quick, and Hughes was out of it from the beginning. He tried his best to pop-shot and throw crisp overhands when he could, but it was of no consequence to Zepeda's forward pressure.

Zepeda kept moving forward at full speed, hunting Hughes from corner to corner. One important thing to note is that Hughes didn't move his head. Instead of taking his head off the center line, Hughes chose to stand his ground and fight behind the high guard. Using head movement would have saved him from getting battered in the fashion that he did. The high guard gave Zepeda an easy target to place his power punches, reaching around the guard on every shot he could.

The dangerous power of Zepeda once again made an appearance, in the very first round it was Hughes who received a strong leak from his right nostril. Once Zepeda knew he had Hughes hurt, he swarmed him. Zepeda's double right hook to the body was the most damaging blow of all, sending Hughes backward with visible discomfort. There were a few times when Hughes dropped his hands as well, which was another indicator that Zepeda had Hughes hurt, right where he wanted him.

As Zepeda unloaded vicious body shots and hooks upstairs, Hughes' corner egged him on. They wanted more activity from their fighter because they assumed that Zepeda would punch himself out. They couldn’t have been any further from the truth. For another two rounds, Zepeda battered Hughes into a swollen mound of flesh.

It was clear that Hughes didn't have an answer for the offensive prowess of Zepeda, who was using every opportunity he could to neutralize Hughes' jab and overhand right. As Hughes' straight punches landed, Zepeda seemed to throw his with more aggression. Eventually, Hughes stopped throwing back at all, which created a situation where both men were walking around the ring, but only one was having his face crushed by leather.

When the round ended, Hughes was taking long, labored breaths on the stool. His head coach wiped his nose with the towel, and while the referee advanced to talk with them he alerted him that he wanted the fight stopped. With this victory, William “Camaron” Zepeda advances to a healthy 29-0, with 25 big knockouts.

He is now the mandatory for Gervonta “Tank” Davis' WBA Lightweight Championship, and the mandatory for the winner between Vasiliy Lomachenko and George Kambosos. It became a true war of attrition after the first round. Hughes bit down on his gumshield and ate everything that was cutting across his gloves. Zepeda wouldn't stop punching, but Hughes wouldn't go down.

The crowd roared, the commentators exploded, but Hughes did not waver. Maxi Hughes' heart deserves serious praise. He went out on his shield in a fight that was never really in his favor. No matter how many punches came his way, he refused to settle. He walked into the fire, choosing the road less traveled instead of taking the easy way out. There are plenty of men who would have tried to bargain their way out of the fight with the referee, but Hughes made it his mission to stay in the fight for as long as he physically could.

There's no credit in losing, but when you show heart, you earn some praise from other athletes and observers. Many of Hughes' UK supporters came out because he was subject to a bad decision against George Kambosos. In that fight, Hughes was able to give Kambosos serious problems.

It was a back-and-forth fight that deserved better scoring from the judges, but the past is the past. The UK fans that showed up for Hughes were expecting him to attack Zepeda with the same ferocity he attacked Kambosos. Unfortunately, their hopes were destroyed when their man lost on the night. It was Zepeda who ultimately got the nod, with plenty of support from both the Mexican and British fans.

[Schofield vs. Suero Ends in Theatrical Nightmare!]

On the undercard of William Zepeda vs. Maxi Hughes was Floyd Schofield vs. Esteuri Suero, which ended in absolute chaos. This was supposed to be Schofield's big return after a fight with Joseph “JoJo” Diaz fell through last month. Schofield had been in camp waiting for a name and Golden Boy Promotions was able to give him Suero, who before this fight was an undefeated contender just like Schofield.

Not necessarily ranked the highest, he occupied the #61 spot in the division. There were quite a few people ranked ahead of Suero, but stylistically and through the sanctioning bodies, a fight with Schofield made the most sense career-wise.

The issue of Schofield needing an opponent was easily solved, seeing as how Suero is a fighter who never says no. He has a history of taking fights no matter the opponent, which makes sense when one accounts for the fact that he is from the Dominican Republic. Young fighters from La Isla typically have a very difficult time making it out.

Breaking into the American and international boxing markets is hard because of corruption that has a strong chokehold on fighters there. There are plenty of stories of people who had most of their purses stolen by their promoters, threatened with violence if they refused to fight, and many other occasions of violation against the people they are supposed to be promoting. Suero was coming off of a big knockout win over Marlyn Cabrera in December.

Opposite Suero was a very game Floyd Schofield, who was fresh off of a knockout win over Ricardo Lopez Torres. These two prospects were set to make fireworks in the ring, but things could not have gone any further left. The fight started off with Suero initiating the clinch after some crafty head movement. Schofield is known to fight behind a heavy rear-right hand that he has used as the lead after switching to southpaw.

Against Suero, this right hand did not land as often as he'd hoped to. Suero was able to read Schofield often, but his head movement led to a series of headbutts that caused a cut on the left brow of his opponent. In between the break periods of rounds two, three, and four, Schofield's corner had to carefully apply Vaseline in the areas affected.

Surprisingly, Suero walked away from their clashes unscathed. The situation escalated further when Suero began tucking his head underneath Schofield's right armpit, jerking it upward each time he'd miss big on a hook. The referee gave Suero a warning, but it did very little to stop him from continuing.

Schofield did his best to continue the fight with the conditions he was stuck in, but things didn't get much better. When he knew he was at risk of true sanction from the referee, Suero decided to move around the ring. This outboxing forced Schofield to chase him, which led to more clinching.

Suero put the final nail in the coffin when he threw a right uppercut to the body that strayed a bit too low for the referee's liking. The fight was officially stopped in the fifth round, with Suero ultimately receiving a disqualification. Schofield was ahead on the scorecards, which cemented that he was the winner.

[Terrence Crawford and Chris Eubank Jr. Rumors Shut Down!]

The rumors of Crawford and Chris Eubank Jr. have officially been dispelled by Team Crawford. The word on the street was that former Undisputed Welterweight World Champion Terrence Crawford and former IBO Middleweight World Champion Chris Eubank Jr. would be doing battle. This came after a long period of silence from both Eubank and Crawford.

However, these rumors were put to bed once Team Crawford stepped out and spoke about them. This situation is very similar to the rumored Crawford-Canelo matchup that was reportedly close to getting finalized. This was far from the truth, and Canelo had to address the rumors live on Mexican television. It was the right thing to do, and it resulted in other opportunities, such as the Jaime Munguia fight that is now confirmed for May 4th, opening up.

The Crawford-Eubank fight was more enticing, however. This fight was a major catalyst for change, as it got other organizations motivated to step up and announce their next big moves forward.

Another major power play that the Crawford-Eubank rumors caused was a mandatory defense announcement from Jessica McCaskill. McCaskill is known for regularly crossing the pond and fighting opposition from the UK. After the WBA made significant announcements in the divisions surrounding welterweight, they announced that McCaskill's next contest would be a WBA Welterweight World title defense against Lauren Price.

Price has now officially stepped up to world-class in just her seventh professional bout as she takes on McCaskill, who is a former Undisputed World Welterweight champion. Outside of carrying the WBA World Welterweight title currently, McCaskill also carries the IBO and Ring Magazine World Welterweight titles. The winner of the fight will be in a position to unify titles with IBF champion Natasha Jonas, who UK-based promotion Boxxer also promotes.

Sandy Ryan holds the WBO title in the division, the title McCaskill failed to gain after fighting Ryan to a draw in 2023. Lauren Price is no pushover. She is mentally locked in and impressively maintained her cool throughout yesterday's media day until the end. The Olympic gold medallist (6-0, 1 KO), who outclassed Silvia Bortot in a December points win, will aim to become Wales' first women's world champion.

To shine some light on how impressive Price is not just as a women's fighter, but as an up-and-coming prospect, with just one amateur fight under her belt, she won bronze at both the Women’s European and Youth World Championships in 2011. Price was only 17 at the time and destroyed her competition with ease. A bronze medal in Scotland saw Lauren enter the world history books by becoming the first female Welsh boxer to win a Commonwealth Games medal.

Later in her career, Price claimed another bronze at the 2016 European Championships in Bulgaria. Prices's skill is undeniable, but the real question is whether or not it is too early for her. There have been plenty of amateur experiments. As discussed in last week's article, Lomachenko, Andy Cruz, and Andy Hiraoka are all examples of people who spent most of their time in the amateurs and received many opportunities as they advanced to the professional rankings.

Price could be added to this list of names if she makes a good showing of herself against McCaskill. McCaskill is looking forward to silencing the doubters. "Price is hopefully going to want to put on a good show. That's exactly what I want because I plan on doing the same. I'm here to steal all of her fans,” McCaskill opened. “I'm going to show her what it takes to be a champion and the belts will be coming back to America with me." With talk like this backing the fight, it is hard to believe that this will be anything other than pure precision punching.

These two women are battle-tested, ferocious, and ready to take on the world. Between McCaskill and Price, it is hard to tell who will come out on top. McCaskill has plenty of professional experience at the world championship level, but Price's amateur background paints a picture filled with experience as well. While they were at two different levels in the past, it can be argued that this is a true 50-50 fight. One thing is for certain- this fight will entertain, and this fight will sell out in Wales.

[Frank Sanchez: Next Heavyweight World Title Challenger?]

The WBC officially announced that Frank Sanchez could be incredibly close to a world championship fight with Tyson Fury. As the world is already aware several times over, Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk are set to have a match for the Undisputed Heavyweight World Championship on May 18th. Once that match is wrapped up, Frank Sanchez will become mandatory for Tyson Fury.

All of this will come to pass if Frank Sanchez is the victor against Kabayel, and if Fury gets the win against Usyk. Should Usyk win, this would create more confusion in the heavyweight division. There would be too many mandatories simultaneously, meaning Usyk would either get stripped or immediately defend his titles. Despite this wealth of information, there have been significant roadblocks at heavyweight.

The Undisputed Heavyweight World Championship match between Fury and Usyk was pushed back from early 2024 to May 2024. Deontay Wilder fumbled a major opportunity against Anthony Joshua, which opened the floodgates further for Filip Hrgovic. The slow progression of the weight class is a result of the sanctioning bodies being neglectful of the challenger buildup.

Manuel Charr still holds the WBA Regular Heavyweight World Championship, which should have been fought for many weeks ago. After Charr won his court case against the WBA back in August 2023, he was reinstated as WBA Regular World Champion.

The WBA ordered Charr to defend his title against Jarrell Miller by October 14th, 2023, but nothing came of it except for brief mentions of the situation during the Day of Reckoning press conference by Miller in December. Miller never fought for the world title, and to this day the WBA has ignored the fact that Charr still has to defend his belt.

If the WBA took action and stripped Charr, or at the very least forced him to defend through monetary means, the WBA's end of the division could move forward. There would be a new champion ready to unify after Fury vs. Usyk, and any WBA mandatories could be cleared. The WBA could have easily also made a match between the WBO Interim World Champion and their Regular World Champion, consolidating the belts to create a clearer picture as to who's next in line. Regardless of our hopes, wants, and heavyweight dreams, the division is still trapped in limbo.