Jose Zepeda will move on to fight another day.

Ivan Redkach, on the other hand, has a hard choice to make.

Zepeda stopped Redkach in the second round of a battle between former title challengers. Redkach was floored three times as the fight was stopped at 2:02 of round two Friday night at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California.

“I trained really hard for the fight and I was confident in my conditioning,” said Zepeda after the fight. “I throw a lot of punches, compared to other fighters.”

The DAZN-aired welterweight fight saw Zepeda—from nearby Baldwin Park—jump out to a strong start. A left hand to the body dropped Redkach to the canvas. Redkach barely beat the count, but was game the rest of the round. The Ukrainian southpaw fought back and landed a few left hands upstairs.

His good fortunes ended there.

Zepeda stalked Redkach early in round two. Redkach was hurt by a straight left to the midsection more than a minute into the round. He was forced into a corner but attempted to fight back. Zepeda connected with another body shot to produce the bout’s second knockdown.

Redkach beat the count, but wasn’t as fortunate in the follow-up attack. Zepeda swarmed with a barrage of punches to floor Redkach for a third time. Referee Rudy Barragan saw enough and stopped the fight.

The win over Redkach took place over five months after Zepeda lost by knockout to unbeaten prospect Dalton Smith. Prior to the loss to Smith, Zepeda lost a one-sided decision to contender Richardson Hitchins last September 23 in Orlando, Florida.

Both fights took place at junior welterweight. Friday’s win was Zepeda’s second as a true welterweight.

“I definitely felt stronger, now that I’m at 147 pounds,” insisted Zepeda. “I wanted to show myself that I’m still able to do it.”

The 35-year-old faced Regis Prograis for the vacant WBC junior welterweight title in November 2022. Prograis knocked him out in the eleventh round.

At his best, Zepeda was universally hailed for his all-out slugfest with Ivan Baranchyk. Their brutal Oct. 2020 battle saw a total of eight knockdowns before Zepeda would win via fifth round knockout. It was hailed as The Ring’s 2020 Fight of the Year.

Zepeda also came up short versus then-WBC 140-pound titlist Jose Ramirez in 2019 and then-WBO 135-pound beltholder Terry Flanagan. Both titlists were unbeaten at the time.

Los Angeles’ Redkach (24-8-1, 19 KOs) has now lost four of his last five contests. He was stopped in the fifth round by Batyrzhan Jukembayev on May 22 in Plant City, Florida. The other losses during his current free-fall came versus Prograis and former two-division champ Danny Garcia.

UNDERCARD RESULTS

In the co-feature, unbeaten prospect Nathan Rodriguez of Pico Rivera, California dropped Bryan Mercado once en route to a one-sided decision victory.

Scores were 80-71, 80-71 and 79-72 for Rodriguez, who improved to 16-0, 10 KOs.

Mercado was game, but Rodriguez was the more-effective fighter throughout most of the fight. Rodriguez worked behind a consistent jab, followed up by a right hand-left hook combination or other variation of two or three-punch combinations.

As the fight progressed, Rodriguez split the guard of the southpaw Mercado, connecting with uppercuts or more left hooks to the head. Rodriguez was able to focus his attack to the body after closing the distance between the two.

Mercado found success in round seven. It was short-lived as was countered by the 20-year-old Rodriguez. About a minute left in round eight, Rodriguez landed a left hook to the head. Moments later, Rodriguez connected with another left hook to the head, dropping Mercado to the canvas. Mercado beat the count, but the bell had sounded to end the round.

Rodriguez was coming off a knockout win over Jose Saant in his previous fight on June 28. He is the son of Marv Rodriguez, who promoted Friday’s card.

Mercado, who resides in Quito, Ecuador, fell to 11-6-1, 6 KOs.

Welterweight Miguel Gaona of El Sereno, California improved to 5-0, 4 KOs, dropping Mexico City’s Daniel Evangelista (21-19-2, 17 KOs) twice, both from a barrage of punches to the body, en route to a first-round knockout victory. Referee Ray Armendariz counted Evangelista out at 1:17.

Featherweight Santos Ortega of Sacramento, California outboxed Jose Saant (15-6-1, 7 KOs) over six rounds, winning by decision. All three judges scored the bout 60-54, who goes to 9-0, 3 KOs.

Saant, who is originally from Gualaquiza, Ecuador and now resides in Medford, New York, has now lost five of his last six bouts.

In junior featherweight action, 20-year-old Oscar Ochoa of El Monte, California was successful in his pro debut, defeating Rod Sarguilla (2-7, 1 KO) of the Philippines by unanimous decision. Scores were 40-36, 40-36, and 39-37 for Ochoa.

In the opening bout of the MarvNation Promotions card, junior welterweight Jaime Cuesta of San Diego defeated Jenel Lausa (11-5-1, 7 KOs) of the Philippines by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the bout 59-54 for Cuesta, who improved to 10-0, 3 KOs.

Lausa has a point deducted in round six for holding.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]

Follow @FSalazarBoxing