Jose Zepeda will fight another day.
Ivan Redkach, on the other hand, has a tough choice to make.
Zepeda stopped Redkach in the second round of a battle between former title challengers. Redkach was knocked down three times when the fight was stopped at 2:02 of round two on Friday night at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California.
“I trained very hard for the fight and I was confident in my conditioning,” Zepeda said after the fight. “I throw a lot of punches compared to other fighters.”
The welterweight bout, which was televised by DAZN, saw Zepeda – from nearby Baldwin Park – off to a strong start. A left hand to the body drops Redkach to the canvas. Redkach barely beat the score, but was game the rest of the round. The Ukrainian southpaw fought back and landed some left hands over the top.
His luck ended there.
Zepeda trailed Redkach early in round two. Redkach was hurt more than a minute into the round by a straight left to the midsection. He was forced into a corner but tried to fight back. Zepeda connected with another body shot to produce the fight’s second takedown.
Redkach beat the score, but was not so lucky in the follow-up attack. Zepeda swarmed Redkach to the floor for a third time with a barrage of punches. Referee Rudy Barragan had seen enough and stopped the fight.
The win over Redkach came five months after Zepeda lost by knockout to undefeated prospect Dalton Smith. Prior to the loss to Smith, Zepeda lost a one-sided decision to Richardson Hitchins last September 23 in Orlando, Florida.
Both fights took place at junior welterweight. Friday’s win was Zepeda’s second as a true welterweight.
“I definitely felt stronger now that I’m 147 pounds,” Zepeda maintained. “I wanted to show myself that I can still do it.”
The 35-year-old faced Regis Prograis in November 2022 for the vacant WBC junior welterweight title. Prograis knocked him out in the eleventh round.
At his best, Zepeda was universally praised for his all-out slugfest with Ivan Baranchyk. Their brutal battle in October 2020 saw a total of eight knockouts before Zepeda would win via fifth-round knockout. It is labeled as The Ring’s 2020 Fight of the Year.
Zepeda also came up short against then-WBC 140-pound titlist Jose Ramirez in 2019 and then-WBO 135-pound belt holder Terry Flanagan. Both titles were undefeated at the time.
Los Angeles’ Redkach (24-8-1, 19 KOs) has now lost four of his last five bouts. He was stopped in the fifth round by Batyrzhan Jukembayev on May 22 in Plant City, Florida. The other losses during his current freefall came against Prograis and former two-division champion Danny Garcia.
UNDERMAP RESULTS
In the co-feature, undefeated prospect Nathan Rodriguez of Pico Rivera, Calif. dropped Bryan Mercado once en route to a one-sided victory.
The scores were 80-71, 80-71 and 79-72 for Rodriguez, who improved to 16-0, 10 KOs.
Mercado was game, but Rodriguez was the more effective fighter throughout most of the fight. Rodriguez worked behind a consistent jab, followed by a right-left hook combination or other variation of two or three-punch combinations.
As the fight progressed, Rodriguez split the guard of the southpaw Mercado, who connected with uppercuts or more left hooks to the head. Rodriguez was able to focus his attack on the body after closing the distance between the two.
Mercado had success in round seven. It was short-lived as 20-year-old Rodriguez countered. About a minute into round eight, Rodriguez landed a left hook to the head. Moments later, Rodriguez connected with another left hook to the head, dropping Mercado to the canvas. Mercado beat the count, but the bell rang to end the round.
Rodriguez had a knockout victory over Jose Saant in his previous fight on June 28. He is the son of Marv Rodriguez, who promoted Friday’s card.
Mercado, who lives in Quito, Ecuador, went 11-6-1, 6 KOs.
Welterweight Miguel Gaona of El Sereno, Calif. improved to 5-0, 4 KOs, dropping Mexico City’s Daniel Evangelista (21-19-2, 17 KOs) twice, both from a flurry of body shots, en route to a first-round knockout victory. Referee Ray Armendariz counted Evangelista out at 1:17.
Featherweight Santos Ortega of Sacramento, California outboxed Jose Saant (15-6-1, 7 KOs) over six rounds and won by decision. All three judges scored the fight 60-54, going 9-0, 3 KOs.
Saant, who is originally from Gualaquiza, Ecuador and now lives in Medford, New York, has now lost five of his last six matches.
In junior featherweight action, 20-year-old Oscar Ochoa of El Monte, California was successful in his pro debut, defeating Rod Sarguilla (2-7, 1 KO) of the Philippines by unanimous decision. The scores were 40-36, 40-36 and 39-37 for Ochoa.
In the opening bout of the MarvNation Promotions card, junior welterweight Jaime Cuesta of San Diego defeated Jenel Lausa (11-5-1, 7 KOs) of the Philippines by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the fight 59-54 for Cuesta, who improved to 10-0, 3 KOs.
Lausa has a point deducted in round six for holding.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at (email protected)
