By Cliff Rold

The return of 26-year old lightweight contender Jose Zepeda (23-1, 20 KO) of La Puente, California, ended the same way his last fight did: on an early injury. To his benefit, this time the injury didn’t cost him the fight. An accidental butt from 31-year old Jose Alfaro (28-9-1, 24 KO) of Nagarote, Nicaragua, opened a fight-ending cut in the first round. The bout was declared a “No Contest.”

Zepeda weighed inside of the welterweight limit at 142 lbs. Alfaro weighed the same. The referee was Fernando Renteria.

A clash of heads opened a gash under the left eye of Zepeda in a first round he otherwise controlled. It was well below the eye but severe enough that the stoppage appeared warranted. Zepeda’s corner was covering the cut with Vaseline even after the fight had ended and Zepeda looked understandably frustrated with his bad luck.

Zepeda was making his first start since a heartbreaking title loss in July. Traveling to the UK to face Terry Flanagan for the then-vacant WBO lightweight title, Zepeda suffered a separated shoulder and remained on his stool after the second round. Zepeda can hope for a rematch as the top contender for the WBO title following Flanagan’s defeat of leading WBO contender Diego Magdaleno by second round stoppage earlier this month.

The televised portion of the card opened in the lightweight division.

20-year old Carlos Diaz (18-0, 10 KO), 135 ½, of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico scored a highlight reel knockdown in round three and finished the fight within the round but the stoppage of 25-year old Marcos Cardenas (16-6-1, 12 KO), 135 ½, of Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico, was highly debatable. The referee was Juan Morales Lee.

The first two rounds of the bout saw each man landing some harsh right hands and were fought on relatively even terms. Matters took a turn in the third when Diaz landed a perfect left uppercut. Cardenas dropped like a rock but cleared his head, beat the count, and nodded he could go on. Diaz pounced, trapping Cardenas on the ropes and letting both hands go. The gloves blocked most of the shots and Cardenas began firing back as Lee jumped in. With Lee’s arms around him, Cardenas landed a whipping right and laughed as his night came to an end at 2:11 of round three.

Additional Results

Jr. featherweight: Gregorio Ronquillo (3-1-2, 2 KO) SD6 Luis Rosales (2-1, 2 KO)

The card was telecast in the US on BeIn Sports Espanol, promoted by Zanfer Promotions.

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene and a member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com