By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten William Zepeda of Mexico returns to the ring in a 10-round lightweight tilt against Jaime Arboleda of Panama this Saturday, April 29th. The fight from Arlington, Texas can be seen live in most nations on DAZN. Zepeda took care of Joseph Diaz via a 12-round unanimous decision last October in his most recent outing while Arboleda beat Jhonatan Arenas by an eight-round unanimous decision in his last outing in August.
The 26-year-old Zepeda is a southpaw who enters the ring with a perfect mark of 22-0 with 23 big Ko’s. He’s obviously made a name for himself due to his impressive power as he carries around an impressive knockout ratio of 85.2 per cent. He’s boxed 123 rounds since making his pro debut in 2015 following and has fought past six rounds just twice, which came in his last two outings against Rene Alvarado and Joseph Diaz. Zepeda stands 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 69.9-inch reach. Zepeda stepped up in class in his last two fights but is arguably taking a sideways step here.
His biggest wins before beating Alvarado by a 10-round unanimous decision and Diaz by a 12-round unanimous decision came against the likes of Jose Fierros, Jesus Zazueta, Jose Rosales and Roberto Ramirez. Since turning pro, Zepeda won the vacant WBA Contintental Americas Lightweight Title in July, 2021 when he stopped Hector Tanajara after six rounds and defended it once by halting John Vincent Moralde in four rounds four months later. He’s also captured the vacant WBF Mexican Lightweight Title and the vacant WBC Fecarbox Silver Lightweight Crown
The 28-year-old Arboleda of Curundu, Panama fights out of Miami, Florida and climbs through the ropes with a mark of 19-2 with 14 Ko’s. He’s also got pretty good power in his hands with a current knockout ratio of 66.7 per cent but three of his last four wins have gone the diatance. He made his pro debut in 2014 following a pretty good amateur career which saw him win a gold medal at the 2013 Central America Games and a bronze at the Central America Championships and Bolivarian Games and has boxed 97 rounds since.
Arboleda’s defeat came at the hands of Recky Dulay via a third-round TKO in July, 2017 with his second loss coming to Chris Colbert in December, 2020 when he was halted in the 11th round in a shot at the WBA Interim Super Featherweight Title. Arboleda is a half-inch taller than Zepeda at just over 5-feet-9-inches and his 72-inch reach gives him a 2.5-inch edge in that department.
He beat Tony Gomez by nine-round unanimous decision in September, 2015 for the vacant WBA FedaCaribe Super Featherweight Title after both fighters were knocked down in the first round and Gomez down again in the second. He also won the vacant WBA Fedelatin crown a year later by stopping Eder Espetia in the fifth round. Arboleda has also beaten the likes of Jayson Velez, Kenin Betancourt, Jose Saant, Victor Betancourt and Augusto Pinilla.
Prediction…
This looks like it’s going to be Arboleda’s step back up to the lightweight division and while he has good power, I don’t think he’s got enough pop in his punches to keep Zepeda off of him. Zepeda’s a relentless puncher who just keeps throwing leather and I think he’ll be too aggressive and powerful for Arboleda on Saturday night.
