William Zepeda soaked in every ounce of the ambiance ahead of his first Mexican Independence Day boxing headliner.
The unbeaten lightweight contender was in a festive mood as he clocked in at 134.2 pounds. His opponent, San Diego’s Mercito Gesta was also 134.2 pounds for their scheduled 12-round lightweight bout atop a DAZN show this Saturday from Commerce Casino in Commerce, California.
Main event status is nothing new to Zepeda (28-0, 24KOs), who tops his third consecutive DAZN show. Amazingly, a fight on this celebrated weekend for his native Mexico has never occurred for the 27-year-old southpaw from San Mateo Atenco over the course of his eight-year career.
Gesta (34-3-3, 17KOs) is unbeaten in his last three starts and has won his last two. The former title challenger is coming off his best career victory to date, an upset, ten-round decision over former IBF junior lightweight titlist Joseph ‘JoJo’ Diaz Jr. on March 18 in Long Beach, California.
Zepeda also owns a win over Diaz. He broke the Compubox record for most punches thrown in a lightweight fight in a twelve-round victory last October 29 in San Diego.
Yokasta Valle was 105 pounds for her unified strawweight title defense versus former title challenger Maria Santizo. Valle flaunted her model-like physique on stage as she weighed pounds. Santizo (11-3, 6KOs) was 104.2 pounds for her second major title fight.
Costa Rica’s Valle (28-2, 9KOs) will attempt her eighth overall defense of at least one strawweight title. She won the IBF belt in an August 2019 points win over Joann Pastrana on the road in Marbella, Spain. Valle enjoyed hometown advantage in a ten-round win over unbeaten WBO beltholder Thi Thu Nhi Nguyen last September.
The win was followed by a majority decision victory over unbeaten WBO/IBF junior flyweight titlist Evelin Bermudez to become a three-division champ before she returned to strawweight for a win over unbeaten Jessica Basulto Salazra on March 25 in Guanacaste.
Main undercard weights (DAZN, 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT)
Victor Morales (18-0-1, 9KOs), Vancouver, Washington, 126 pounds vs. Edwin Palomares (18-4-2, 9KOs), Mexico City, 125.4 pounds—10 rounds, featherweight
Darius Fulghum (6-0, 6KOs), Houston, 170.8 pounds vs. Ricardo Adrian Luna (25-10-2, 16KOs), Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl, Mexico, 170.8 pounds—8 rounds, light heavyweight
Eric Priest (10-0, 7KOs), Kansas City, Kansas, 159.8 pounds vs. Simon Madsen (13-1, 10KOs), Cancun via Horsens, Denmark, 158.6 pounds—8 rounds, middleweight
Preliminary undercard weights (Golden Boy YouTube, 6:10 p.m. ET/3:10 p.m. ET)
Daniel Garcia (6-0, 5KOs), Westminster, Colorado, 132 pounds vs. Erick Benitez (4-4, 1KO), Guadalajara, Mexico, 131.6 pounds—6 rounds, lightweight
Alejandro Reyes (10-0, 5KOs), Mexicali, 139.6 pounds vs. Roberto Gomez (5-2, 5KOs), Mexico City, 140 pounds—6 rounds, lightweight
Gael Cabrera (1-0, 1KO), Sonora, Mexico, 126.2 pounds vs. Juan Centeno (8-9-3, 1KO), Managua, Nicaragua, 127.6 pounds—4 rounds, junior featherweight
Jordan Cervantes (debut) Montebello, California, 136.4 pounds vs. Giovanny Meza (0-4, 0KOs), Juarez, Mexico, 137.2 pounds—4 rounds, lightweight
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox