LAS VEGAS — Mexican pressure machine William “El Camarón” Zepeda (34-1, 27 KOs) reached the pinnacle of the lightweight division on Saturday night, capturing the vacant WBC Lightweight World Championship with a dominant unanimous decision victory over former titlist Lamont Roach Jr. (25-2-3, 10 KOs) at The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.
The official judges’ scorecards read 117-111, 117-111, and 118-110, reflecting a relentless, volume-heavy performance from the 30-year-old southpaw.
Roach started effectively, utilizing sharp counter-rights and check hooks in the first two rounds to catch Zepeda coming forward. By round three, Zepeda closed the distance, pinning Roach against the ropes with non-stop combinations to the body and head.
According to CompuBox statistics, Zepeda threw 884 total punches, landing 218 compared to Roach’s 153 landed out of 591 thrown.
Zepeda swept the middle rounds across all scorecards, building an insurmountable lead by round eight through sustained body work and jab discipline. The victory marks the first full world title of Zepeda’s career, capping off a year-long redemption path following his lone professional loss to Shakur Stevenson.
“Zepeda was well prepared tonight. He and his team had a tremendous game plan, and he put it into place. No excuses.” — Lamont Roach Jr. in his post-fight interview
What’s Next for the Lightweight Division
With the WBC strap now wrapped around his waist, Zepeda expressed his intent to pursue unification bouts at 135 lbs. Potential unification clashes against existing titleholders like Gervonta “Tank” Davis (WBA), Vasiliy Lomachenko (IBF), or Denys Berinchyk (WBO) now stand as major possibilities for the newly crowned champion.