JoJo Diaz and William Zepeda face off in high-stakes matchup on Nov. 5
Lightweight contenders Joseph ‘JoJo’ Diaz and William Zepeda will square off on November 5, it was announced on Saturday night’s DAZN stream.
The clash between the two southpaw fighters should be an action fight, as both fighters are known for forward and throwing a high volume of punches. Diaz and Zepeda are ranked 7 and 9, by The Ring, respectively.
Diaz (32-2-1, 15 knockouts), who resides in Downey, California, has not fought since losing to Devin Haney by unanimous decision on December 4. Haney was defending his WBC world lightweight title and is currently the Ring Magazine lightweight champion.
Less than five months before the loss to Haney, Diaz defeated Javier Fortuna by unanimous decision.
The 29-year-old first won a world title in January 2020, defeating Tevin Farmer by unanimous decision. Diaz was to make the first defense of the IBF world junior lightweight title against Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov, but was stripped of the title the day before after weighing in over three pounds at the weigh-in. With only Rakhimov eligible to win the title, the fight went on as scheduled, but ended in a split-decision draw.
Diaz first challenged for a world title belt in May 2018, losing by unanimous decision to then-WBC world featherweight titleholder Gary Russell, Jr.
Zepeda (26-0, 23 KOs), who resides in San Mateo Atenco, Mexico, earned a hard-fought unanimous decision win over former junior lightweight contender Rene Alvarado in his last bout on May 14. The decision win over Alvarado snapped a string of 15 consecutive knockout victories.
The 26-year-old made his United States debut in November 2020, stopping Roberto Ramirez in the fifth round. Less than eight months after the win over Ramirez, in a clash of unbeaten lightweights, Zepeda battered Hector Tanajara before the fight was stopped after the sixth round. Robert Garcia, Tanajara’s trainer, threw in the towel to prevent his fighter from receiving further punishment.
Zepeda is managed by Jaime Picos.
No word yet on which venue and city the Diaz-Zepeda fight will take place.
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 by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at @FSalazarBoxing
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