Undefeated lightweight contender William ‘El Camarón’ Zepeda 27-0 (23) says he is more than ready to take out Jaime ‘Jaimito’ Arboleda 19-2 (14) when they clash over 12 rounds at the College Park Center at The University of Texas at Arlington campus on Saturday night.
“Good day everyone! I would like to thank the media and everyone here for all the support,” Zepeda said at the Maple Avenue Boxing Gym.
“This is my second time as the main event in my career, the first time in the red corner, and I am so excited and have prepared well for this moment.”
“I dedicate this fight to Vergil Ortiz Jr. I hope and wish him a speedy recovery and I hope to see him in the ring soon.”
“I trained hard for this fight, and I am coming with everything come Saturday night. I want to thank my Mexican fan base and I promise to give the fans a very exciting fight.”
The 26-year-old Mexican southpaw is fresh off a wide 12-round unanimous decision victory over former IBF super featherweight champion JoJo Diaz 32-4-1 (15) last October. It followed his 10-round points win over former WBA 130-pound champion Rene Alvarado 33-13 (22) in May last year.
“I am always preparing, and I was ready for this fight. I was lightly training already, at the ready to get the call. When I did, I was overjoyed, as I was excited to fight in the Dallas-Fort Worth area,” Zepeda said.
“Champions are made by taking advantage of opportunities. When we defeated Joseph Diaz last year, my team and I trained hard to take advantage of the opportunity and it worked out perfectly for us. Getting the opportunity to headline as the red corner this time around is a blessing, and is the result of years of sacrifice, discipline and hard work. We won’t let the fans down this Saturday, April 29!”
Panamanian Arboleda, 28, is a lesser-known quantity. He has won three fights on the trot since getting stopped by Chris Colbert in the 11th frame of their 12-round bout in December 2020. He will be moving up from super featherweight for this contest.
While some boxers like to study their opponents’ every move to determine their strengths and weaknesses, Arboleda is in the opposite camp, preferring to focus on himself and figure out the guy across the ring from him on the night.
“I want to thank Golden Boy and Sampson Boxing for giving me the opportunity. We have a tough opponent this Saturday night and the chance of a lifetime to be a titlist,” Arboleda said.
“I haven’t watched Zepeda fight before, but we know what he is capable of inside the ring. Regardless, we did a very good preparation, we hope to bring a great fight and show what the Arboleda name is capable of. We will be victorious.”
Zepeda’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya added: “When you have the likes of Shakur Stevenson and other top dogs in the lightweight division calling you out, you must be doing something right.
“Zepeda is undefeated, has faced top contenders like Joseph ‘JoJo’ Diaz and has broken CompuBox records. Zepeda is ready to step up for the difficult fight ahead of him. His opponent, Arboleda, has a lot of power and is hungry to dethrone the undefeated fighter.”
