It didn’t look at first like there would be any controversy in the rematch, but William Zepeda could only claim a majority decision in tonight’s DAZN main event from Cancun, Mexico.
Tevin Farmer hung on through possible injury and great adversity early, rallying in the latter half of the fight to pull one even card, and two others that were closer than many following our live coverage anticipated.
Farmer (33-8-1, 8 KO) came out looking fresh and dialed-in, but things started going very poorly for him after just a round and a half. Zepeda (33-0, 27 KO) rocked him midway through the second, and Farmer was wiggling his left glove at the corner as though he might have injured his hand. Commentary speculated that it was an elbow injury from a Zepeda punch to the arm, and Farmer was yelling about it to someone in the crowd after most of the early rounds.
Whatever his injury status, Farmer fought with a ton of heart, landing big counters on the relentless Zepeda in the fourth, and hanging on through a savage beating against the ropes in the 5th that had his corner yelling for him to take a knee.
Things looked dire for Farmer, who was only throwing the right hand with any real force, and didn’t have as much room to maneuver as he did in the first matchup when they fought on a cruiserweight undercard. But, Farmer had arguably his most complete round of the fight in the sixth, and did enough to make a case for himself in most of the back half of the fight, where Zepeda couldn’t hurt him again and seemed to gas out a bit trying.
Farmer hurt Zepeda in the 12th, and Zepeda hit the canvas shortly thereafter on a ruled slip that easily could have been called a knockdown in the moment instead. Replay showed the slip was a good call, and even a point lost to a knockdown ruling would only have split the decision, not swung it away from Zepeda. Official scores came in at 114-114, 116-112, and 115-113. With no disrespect to the gutsy effort Farmer gave, the 116-112 card was closest to my unofficial view of the fight.
Great respect both ways in the aftermath, with handshakes exchanged even after the post-fight interviews. But, a heartbroken Farmer said: “I have respect for the fighters, I have no respect for boxing” as part of an answer about feeling he can’t get any breaks in recent years. Farmer declined to explain his possible injury, focusing instead on his respect for Zepeda and disappointment with the scores.
Oscar Collazo KO-5 Edwin Cano
Quality work from Collazo (12-0, 9 KO), who used a savvy jab to quickly shut down Cano’s early aggression, then alternated body punishment and big right hooks to the head.
Cano (13-3-1, 4 KO) found himself in a nightmare style matchup. Despite his game effort, Cano took more and more abuse as the fight continued. Collazo brilliantly slipped and parried a last gasp, all-in flurry from Cano in the fifth. Seconds later, Collazo landed one final big shot to the body, and Cano could not continue.
Collazo remains the WBA and WBO champion at 105 lbs, with no mention of any future plans in the post-fight interview.
Joselito Velazquez UD-10 Adolfo Castillo
Very fun action here, despite more headbutts than a Three Stooges film. Castillo (12-5-2, 7 KO) hadn’t fought in over two years and hadn’t tallied a victory since 2021, but came very ready to scrap with the overwhelming crowd (and betting) favorite.
Velazquez (21-1-1, 13 KO) had a miserable night despite his success. He suffered a cut over the eye on a head clash in round one, which annoyed him throughout the fight. Velazquez also got the worst of another bad head clash in the third, just as he was really punishing Castillo, and Castillo lost a point for it. Velazquez and Castillo knocked heads again in the fourth, then Castillo opened up at least one big cut with an actual punch in the seventh.
Despite the bumping and bleeding, it was a lively show, with a particularly brilliant 10th round. Official scores came in at 100-89, 100-89, and 97-92, with the latter offering a more accurate picture of a fight that was much more exciting than the scores suggest.
Robin Safar TKO-5 Roberto Silva
This was one where Safar’s corner openly discussed their plan to get rounds in for their fighter, as the fight was in progress. Safar (18-0) followed up his breakthrough win over Sergey Kovalev last May with an early finish, but didn’t exactly set hearts racing with his semi-casual approach to ending things early.
Silva (13-4, 7 KO) works a day job as an electrician, and showed he’s sturdy guy with a heck of a chin, walking through several shots in the early going that could have been fight enders. But, this one was never really competitive, and several mentions of Zurdo Ramirez during the fight suggest Golden Boy might have Safar earmarked as a future opponent for him. Nothing that happened tonight put that at risk.
Yokasta Valle SD-10 Marlen Esparza
Good action in the opener, where Yoka Valle took a well-fought split decision that probably should have been a unanimous one.
There wasn’t a huge gap between these two, but it was a clear one, with Valle (33-3, 10 KO) slightly but notably better throughout. Esparza (15-3, 1 KO) had flashes of her peak, like a crafty sequence of spacing jabs that disrupted a Valle attack in the fourth round. But Valle looked fast and sharp, with Esparza just a bit slow of hand and foot compared to her peak days
It was a good fight, but not really a debatable one, split decision or not. A rematch is likely the biggest fight available for either right now, so we might see it later this year. Given that Esparza has missed weight three times in a row, and lost two of those fights, it may come down to that, or a transition into gatekeeping. And I don’t see a woman with the pride and past success of Esparza hanging around as a tester for others.
