Zepeda stops Tanajara; Estrada and Fujioka win

By Miguel Maravilla and Rocky Morales at ringside

Seniesa “Superbad” Estrada captured the women’s WBO world light flyweight title with a near shutout victory over five-time world champ, Tenkai Tsunami (28-13-1, 16KO). Estrada landed the cleaner punches all through the bout while Tsunami mostly plodded forward unsuccessfully. Tsunami was staggered in the eighth round but held on until the final bell while Estrada never took her foot off the gas. Judges scored the fight 99-91, 98-92 and 98-92, all in favor of Estrada. With the victory, Estrada is now a 3-0 three division world champion and looks like a true standout in women’s boxing.

Lightweight William Zepeda (23-0, 21KO’s) of Mexico was impressive stopping Hector Tanajara (19-1, 5 KO’s) at the end of six in opening up the DAZN stream. It was a fast-paced opening round as Tanajara showed the flash, Zepeda connected with the solid punches. Trading in the center in round three, Zepeda unloaded combinations connecting and backing Tanajara. Attacking on the inside in the fourth, Zepeda stalked and went to the body following up with some combinations upstairs as Tanajara boxed and could not keep Zepeda off him. Continuing to back Tanajara in the fifth, Zepeda continued to impress with good hand speed and effective punching as Tanajara kept backing away. Zepeda’s relentlessness did it as he attacked Tanajara, at the end of the sixth trainer Robert Garcia stopped the fight as his fighter had enough.

Five division female champion, Naoka Fujioka (19-2-1, 7KO) successfully defended her WBA flyweight title with a majority decision victory over Sulem Urbina (12-2, 2KO). It was a tough back and forth battle but by the middle rounds the defending champion, Fujioka, showed she was on a different level and took command of the fight. Urbina put up a spirited battle until the very end but was seemingly hurt on a few occasions. In what seemed like a clear victory for Fujioka instead was a majority decision as judges scored it 95-95, 99-91 and 96-94 in favor of Fujioka.

Bryan Chevalier (16-1-1, 12KO) won the vacant NABO featherweight title with a hard-fought unanimous decision victory over the tough James Wilkins (9-2, 6KO). In a hotly contested bout, the judges had it unanimously for Chevalier by scores of 97-92, 96-93 and 95-94. Following the decision, Chevalier got down on bended knee and proposed marriage to his girlfriend to which she said yes.

Super featherweight Lamont Roach Jr. (21-1-1, 9 KOs) scored a second round knockout over Daniel Rosas (21-5-1, 13 KOs). A barrage of punches by Roach sent Rosas down to the canvas as the referee stopped the fight at 2:14 of the second.

Making his pro debut lightweight Miguel Gaona (1-0) of El Sereno, California won a unanimous decision over Alberto Aguilar of Mexico City. Gaona had his way with Aguilar in going the distance four rounds. Scores were 39-37 all across.

Armenian super bantamweight Azat Hovhannisyan (19-3, 16 KOs) of Glendale, California won a unanimous decision over Jose Gonzalez of Guadalajara, Mexico. It was a scrappy fight as Hovhannisyan was relentless throughout the fight Gonzalez held his own for the ten rounds but the Armenian worked his way to a decision as the scores were 100-90, 99-91, and 99-91.

Heavyweights Mihai Nistor (3-0, 3 KOs) and Colby Madison (9-2-2, 6 KOs) went to war for two rounds. A body shot dropped Madison in the opening round. He got up and returned the favor dropping Nistor for the first time in his career. Nistor was bloodied in round two as Madison sent him to the canvas a second time but Nistor wasn’t done as he connected a left dropping Madison. He got up but did not continue when referee Raul Caiz waved it off at 2:16.

Dominican lightweight Sterling Castillo (15-0, 12 KOs) scored a brutal knockout over Bakersfield’s Miguel Contreras (11-1, 6 KOs). A huge left by Castillo knocked out Contreras as the referee immediately waved off the bout at 46 seconds of the second round.

Super bantamweight Gregory Morales (13-0, 8 KOs) of San Antonio won a unanimous decision over Mexican veteran Rodrigo Guerrero (26-12-2, 16 KOs) in the opening bout from the Banc of California Stadium in Los Ángeles.

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  • Fujioka is literally 45 years old and fighting like that. She looked excellent and if she fights Marlen Esparza next, I’m picking Fujioka. Sterling Castillo had a KO of the year contender, Chevalier – Wilkins was a really good fight and Mihai Nestor is going to be really fun to watch. He has no defense whatsoever.

  • Women’s boxing should change to one minute rounds for safety. Also they should be topless like men.

  • Guys…you have to give DAZN major props…..they put on an entertaining show tonight with alll fights….all fights were evenly matched, exciting and competitive….other fights have been entertaining as well….DAZN is impressive…. especially for the price and what they have to offer…imagine if they had a competitor ….same setup….fight fans shall be the ultimate winner…I know there is Espn and Espn+ …..but we need another subscription that is internet based to compete ….fighter and fight fans will be the ultimate winners….fun show tonight….just wanted to note ….Scooby….E- man…..did you guys watch the fights and what did you think?

  • Zepeda is going to be a force to reckon with in the lightweight division. If he can take a good punch he’ll hold a title.

  • I really didn’t believe Tanajara had the potential to win a title. He just doesn’t punch hard enough to gain respect from top fighters. Zepeda, on the other hand, is a punching machine who hits hard and punches in combination. He’s relentless and can take a great punch. Tanajara had nothing to hold him off with and Zepeda had his way in every round after the first. Zepeda has the potential to win a title and hold on to it for a long time. He’s terrific!

    Estrada again performed admirably. She outworked the Japanese fighter in most of the rounds and maintained a busy pace throughout the fight. Tsunami was the bigger fighter and punched hard, but she didn’t punch enough and never was able to land many clean shots on Estrada. A great win for Estrada. She’s got a lot of grit and refused to be outworked despite being outsized.

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