Lamont Roach Jr was beaten over 12 rounds by William Zepeda in what was a pretty decisive victory.
Roach came into the bout off the back of successive draws, while Zepeda lost last time out, so both men were looking to get back to winning ways.
It was ‘Camaron’ who came out on top as he became WBC lightweight world champion at the second attempt.
He fought for the belt last time out against Shakur Stevenson and was outclassed. Stevenson won the contest by unanimous decision, with the judges’ scorecards reading 118-110, 118-110 and 119-109.
Roach drew with Gervonta Davis last March before also being held to a draw against Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz, with both results being majority draws.
This fight, however, was not close, and Zepeda was the clear victor.
The Mexican appeared to be one step ahead throughout the bout. He was the sharper and stronger fighter over 12 rounds.
He was relentless throughout, displaying the incredible stamina we have become accustomed to while throwing 884 punches across the bout.
The key to victory was outworking ‘The Reaper’ on the way to a career-best performance.
All three judges had a clear winner, with the scorecards reading 117-111, 117-111 and 118-110.
After the fight, Zepeda reflected on his first loss to Stevenson and how it fuelled his comeback.
“Against Shakur, it was an exam I couldn’t pass.
“It was humbling. We took time, came back stronger and worked on our weaknesses. Now we are a champion.”
Raymond Muratalla vs Robson Conceicao
Muratalla extended his unbeaten record to 25-0 with a decisive win over former world champion Conceicao.
He earned a comfortable unanimous-decision victory after setting the pace from the opening bell.
In his previous bout, Muratalla beat Andy Cruz, who had impressively fought for a world title in just his seventh professional contest.
‘Danger’ will likely look to unify his IBF world title against one of the other lightweight champions after the judges’ scorecards read heavily in his favour: 118-110 and 119-109 twice.
Remaining undercard
Raul Curiel picked up a majority-decision victory against Quinton Randall, although the scorecards were closer than the fight appeared, reading 100-90, 97-93 and 95-95.
He claimed the North American Boxing Federation welterweight title.
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Charles Conwell and Joel Iriarte scored respective stoppage victories in the eighth and ninth rounds.
Fabian Guzman impressed at middleweight against Aaron Coley as he extended his unbeaten record to 11-0.
Gael Cabrera dominated over eight rounds, while Dalis Kaleiopu picked up a devastating stoppage victory.
In what was a massive upset, Dylan Capetillo was stopped in his latest professional outing, suffering a brutal knockout defeat against Juan Carlos Beccerril.
