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.
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.
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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