The boogeyman of the junior welterweight division kept on rolling Tuesday night. Two-time world title challenger Jose “Chon” Zepeda (32-2, 25 KOs) outboxed Kendo “Tremendo” Castaneda (17-2, 8 KOs), rolling to a unanimous decision victory (98-92 2x and 97-93) at the MGM Grand Conference Center — Grand Ballroom.
(Photo Credit: Mikey Williams/Top Rank)
Zepeda, from La Puente, California, is 2-0 with a no-contest since his controversial majority decision loss to world champion Jose Ramirez. He is currently ranked in the top 5 by the WBC and WBO.
“He was a late replacement, but he was tough in there. I didn’t take Kendo lightly because I knew what he was capable of. He had only one loss by decision coming into tonight,” Zepeda said. “Anybody with a belt at 140 pounds is who I want to fight. A championship fight is my goal, and that is what I am working towards.”
Lopez Upsets Vences
Luis Alberto Lopez (21-2, 11 KOs) authored the most significant win of his carer, edging longtime junior lightweight contender Andy Vences (23-2-1, 12 KOs) via 10-round split decision. A Lopez uppercut early in the sixth round stunned Vences, but he was able to weather the onslaught and survive the stanza.
Vences appeared to rally in the bout’s latter stages, but it was too little, too late.
“I felt I won the fight with my pressure. It was a close fight, but I was confident I did enough after the final bell sounded,” Lopez said. “Credit to Vences. I thought he was knocked out earlier in the fight, but he came back like a warrior.”
Said Vences, “I thought I won a close fight, but I am not going to complain about the decision. It was a good, close fight. No excuses. I prepared well for 10 hard rounds.”
- Lightweight prospect Andres Cortes (13-0, 7 KOs) survived a fourth-round knockdown to top Alejandro Salinas (10-4, 9 KOs) by eight-round unanimous decision. The scores were as follows: 79-73, 77-74 and 76-75. Cortes swept the last three round on all of the judges’ cards.
- Gabriel Muratalla (4-0, 3 KOs), the fighting preschool teacher from Fontana, California, bested Las Vegas native Sergio Lopez (4-6-3, 0 KOs) by unanimous decision (40-36 2x and 39-37) in a four-round bantamweight bout. Muratalla was making his second “Bubble” outing following his first-round stoppage over Fernando Robles on June 11.
- Genaro Gamez (10-1, 7 KOs) rebounded from his first career defeat with a first-round knockout over Reymond Yanong (11-6-1, 9 KOs) in a welterweight contest.
- Lightweight prospect Eric Puente remained perfect by winning a four-round majority decision over Diego Elizondo on Tuesday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Puente landed the more telling blows as he took his time against an awkward southpaw that stood 5’10”
Puente picked it up after the 2nd frame as he used pressure and worked the body. He mixed up his punches well with body shots and right hands.
The 20 year-old Puente shook off a 16-month layoff, by winning his Las Vegas debut by scores of 39-37 twice and 38-38.
With the win, the Visata, California native upped his mark to 3-0.
Puente was a 2016 National Youth Open Champion, and was a member of Team USA. Puente was a favorite to be a member of the 2020 United States Olympic Team.
