AND STILL! WILLIAM “EL CAMARÓN” ZEPEDA RETAINS WBC INTERIM LIGHTWEIGHT WORLD TITLE WITH MAJORITY DECISION
In a grudge match sequel, WBC Interim Lightweight World Champion William “El Camarón” Zepeda (33-0, 27 KOs), of San Mateo Atenco, Mexico, faced former IBF super featherweight champion Tevin “2X” Farmer (33-8-1, 8 KOs), of Philadelphia, in a high-impact showdown. Zepeda retained the WBC Interim Lightweight World Championship Title with a majority decision, earning judges’ scores of 114-114, 116-112, and 115-113. The 12-round main event took place at the Poliforum Benito Juárez in Cancún, Mexico, and was co-promoted with Cancún Boxing.
The fight was broadcast worldwide on DAZN. “Tevin Farmer is a tremendous fighter,” said William Zepeda, “I knew what I was risking by taking this fight. I have learned a lot now having gone 22 rounds with him, and I can’t wait to go back to the gym to continue to grow. I want to thank all my fans for being here, and for all their support.
A big thank you to Golden Boy, Oscar De La Hoya, Pepe and everyone who helped put this fight together.” Making yet another, successful historic defense in a classic Mexico vs. Puerto Rico matchup, Villalba, Puerto Rico’s unified WBA, WBO and Ring Magazine Minimumweight World Champion, Oscar “El Pupilo” Collazo (12-0, 9 KOs), retained his titles against Querétaro, Mexico’s Edwin “Canito” Cano (13-3-1, 4 KOs). Scheduled for 12 rounds of world championship boxing, Collazo landed effective body shots throughout the bout, wearing down Cano, who retired on the ropes at 1:12 of the fifth round.
The co-main event was presented by Golden Boy in co-promotion with Miguel Cotto Promotions. Also on the DAZN broadcast, Joselito “El Huracán” Velázquez (21-1-1, 13 KOs) went the distance against Adolfo Castillo (12-5-2, 7 KOs) of Gómez Palacio, Mexico, in a 10-round flyweight bout in front of his hometown Cancún crowd. Velázquez earned a unanimous decision victory with scores of 97-92, 100-89, and 100-89.
Making his Golden Boy debut in spectacular fashion, Robin “Robz” Safar (18-0, 13 KOs), of Las Vegas, defeated Roberto Silva (13-4, 7 KOs), of Houston via TKO. Scheduled as a 10-round cruiserweight fight, Safar stopped Silva in the fifth round at 2:55 when the referee waved off the fight after Safar unleashed a barrage of punches.
Opening the DAZN broadcast with a high-stakes women’s bout, former three-division world champion and two-time titleholder Yokasta Valle (33-3, 10 KOs), of San José, Costa Rica, faced U.S. Olympian and former unified flyweight world champion Marlen Esparza (15-3, 1 KO), of Houston. The bout went the distance, with Valle dominating the 10-round flyweight showdown.
The judges awarded Valle a split-decision victory with scores of 97-93, 97-93 and 94-96. On the preliminary card, which featured six hard-hitting prospect matches, recently signed Cayden Griffiths (4-0, 4 KOs), of Coachella, Calif., delivered a highlight-reel knockout in a fight scheduled for six rounds of welterweight action against Fernando Hernandez (2-1, 1 KO), of Juchipila, Mexico. Griffiths had Hernandez against the corner ropes when he landed a devastating right overhand shot.
