Giovanni Cabera (22-1, 7 KOs) considers his fight with William Zepeda to be “at the highest level of Mexican boxing” this Saturday, July 6, when the two lightweight contenders square off at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California.
(Credit: Golden Boy / Cris Esqueda)
This twelve-round fight will give Cabrera, 29, a chance to prove many doubters wrong because they are not giving him many chances to beat the unbeaten Zepeda (30-0, 26 KOs).
Zepeda, 28, is ranked #1 in all four sanctioning bodies in the lightweight division, and that’s a sign of respect for them. They rarely all agree on a fighter in their ratings, but they consider Zepeda to be something special. His ability to throw over 1000 punches in twelve round fights is one thing.
It will take a special performance from Cabera to win this fight because he is not a fighter who can throw a lot of shots and does not have a lot of power. Without power, Cabrera won’t last long against Zepeda without rocking 12 rounds.
Zepeda’s last opponent, Maxi Hughes, was known for his superior boxing skills, but made it to the fourth round before being knocked out.
Cabrera’s Respect and Determination
“I respect William Zepeda. He brings the fight, but I bring the fight, and I want to hurt him,” said Giovanni Cabrera to Golden Boy Promotions, talking about his fight on Saturday night.
Video clips of Cabrera in action have not been impressive in terms of his punching ability. He looked like he was hitting a heavy bag, and there was no sound.
It will be difficult for Cabrera to stop Zepeda without taking the entire fight away. Someone like Shakur Stevenson will have a chance to beat Zepeda because he is a great passer, but not Cabera.
“I don’t think William Zepeda is overrated. You can talk all the hype you want. You can blow the smoke of a fighter’s a**, but no one can make you break the CompuBox record. That is really commendable,” said Cabrera.
Zepeda broke the CompuBox record by throwing 1,536 punches in his twelve-round unanimous decision win over Joseph Diaz on October 29, 2022, at Fantasy Springs Resort in Indio, California. That’s an absurd number of punches Zepeda threw.
Cabrera’s game plan
“Yes, I know that I am facing a young man with explosiveness that is difficult to keep up with. It’s exciting. It will bring out the best in me,” said Cabrera.
Cabrera can’t match Zepeda’s level of work, and his brilliant coach, Freddie Roach, will be aware of that. Roach will have excellent game plans that Cabrera can use to limit Zepeda’s work rate. If Cabrera can use movement and bending, he can slow down Zepeda.
“We are working hard to fight well. We train to fight with strength and win with strength,” said William Zepeda.
“We will go on foot. It will be my will vs. It will be a war,” said Cabrera.
Going toe-to-toe with Zepeda for any length of time wouldn’t be smart for Cabrera because he’ll be softened up by body shots and won’t be able to move.
“We will go out and fight with what we have been working on in the camp,” said Zepeda. “The game will come by itself. But I think we’re going to show who Camaron Zepeda is and do what Pitbull Cruz couldn’t do.”
Zepeda is confident that he will win the fight by knockout and he may be right. In Cabrera’s loss to Isaac Cruz, he spent a lot of time with his back to the ropes. He can’t do that against Zepeda without taking a lot of punishment.
“It’s not one of these unwise wars. This is the highest level of Mexican boxing for sure,” said Cabrera.
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