Terry Flanagan vs. Jose Zepeda: Winner, Recap and Reaction

The ending was abrupt and anticlimactic, but it counted nonetheless. Terry Flanagan (28-0) became the WBO lightweight champion on Saturday in Manchester, Lancashire, when Jose Zepeda (23-1) injured his shoulder in the second round. 

BoxNation chronicled the one-plus round of action:

In the first round, Flanagan and Zepeda looked to be evenly matched. Zepeda didn't appear to be rattled by the pro-Flanagan crowd. He seemed to be looking to land powerful counter shots to put Flanagan in peril.

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Zepeda came in with 20 KO wins in his 23 fights, and he was trying to set up Flanagan for an ambush. Appropriately, Flanagan was respecting the 26-year-old's punching power.

Both men opened up the action a bit in the second round before Zepeda injured himself.

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Promoter Frank Warren congratulated Flanagan after the bout was over, but he also talked a bit about the abbreviated fight that was seemingly headed toward being an exciting clash, via BoxNation:

While congratulations are in order, it was a shame to see a championship scrap between previously undefeated fighters come to an end this way. 

Like a true competitor and new champion, Flanagan was happy with the title, but, per BoxNation, he wants to prove he's truly better than Zepeda:

The outcome was perhaps the worst result for former champion Miguel Vazquez and contender Denis Shafikov. Both of those men may have wanted a chance to regain or win a piece of the 135-pound title, respectively.

Flanagan may have Vazquez, Shafikov and others waiting to challenge for his title, but you can almost guarantee that both camps will push for a rematch as soon as Zepeda is ready to return to championship-level action.

Fighters like Vazquez and Shafikov may get a shot at Flanagan's title if Zepeda's recovery is a long one. Stay tuned.

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