Former world title challenger Jose “Chon” Zepeda (32-2, 25 KOs) scored a workmanlike ten round unanimous decision over Kendo Castaneda (17-2, 8 KOs) in a junior welterweight bout on Tuesday night inside “The Bubble” at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Scores were 97-93, 98-92, 98-92.
Zepeda: “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. 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.”
Junior lightweight Luis Alberto Lopez (21-2, 11 KOs) scored a hard-fought ten round split decision over Andy Vences (23-2-1, 12 KOs). Scores were 96-94 Vences and 96-94, 96-94 Lopez. Lopez had Vences in trouble in round six. Vences was a 5:1 favorite.
Lopez: “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. Credit to Vences. I thought he was knocked out earlier in the fight, but he came back like a warrior.”
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. I listened to my corner and got back in the fight. I thought I closed strong and did enough to win. I’ll come back to fight another day. This isn’t the end for ‘El Tiburon.’”
Unbeaten lightweight Andres “Savage” Cortes (13-0, 7 KOs) returned from a yearlong layoff to win an eight round unanimous decision over Alejandro Salinas (10-4, 9 KOs). Cortes, who holds a pair of amateur wins over current lightweight world Teofimo Lopez, survived a bad cut and a fourth round knockdown to get the win. Scores were 76-75, 79-93, 77-74.
The Fighting Preschool Teacher Gabriel Muratalla (4-0, 3 KOs) returned on short notice to defeat Sergio Lopez (4-6-3, 0 KOs) in a four-rounder at bantamweight. Scores were 39-37, 40-36, 40-36.
Vences was a clear winner. The Bubble has had the worst set of incompetent buffoons as judges since the series began. The Nevada Athletic Commission is proving to be one of the worst in the US.
While I did think Vences did enough to win both fighters landed good punches and López had him seriously hurt too. Overall this was a very good card with some really competitive fights.
Vences clearly won the fight. I’m not sure what the judges were looking at, but he won at least 7 of the rounds, if not 8. The appropriate score should have been 97-93 for Vences. The 6th round should not have dictated how the rest of the rounds were scored. Vences outboxed Lopez early, was badly hurt in the 6th, but then went after Lopez starting with the 7th round and kept Lopez moving around and not punching like he was earlier in the fight.
Lopez keeps his chin tucked in on defense, but holds it high in the air when he’s on the attack. He was really open for a left hook, but Vences didn’t make him pay. He was just not effective backing up and Vences learned that when he started backing Lopez up, the danger was greatly reduced. There were a lot of headbutts in the fight, but most of them were caused by Lopez charging in head first.
Vences can learn a lot from this fight. He should have gotten the decision, but we now know he can recover and stay disciplined even after being badly hurt. It was a great fight to watch, but the wrong guy got the nod.