Barely a week after accepting the toughest fight of his career, Kendo Castaneda made weight for it Monday in Las Vegas.
San Antonio’s Castaneda came in at 143¾ pounds for his 10-round welterweight fight against Jose Zepeda on Tuesday night. Zepeda stepped on the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s scale at 143¾ pounds as well for a main event ESPN will televise from MGM Grand Conference Center.
The 31-year-old Zepeda (31-2, 25 KOs, 2 NC), of La Puente, California, was scheduled to face Russia’s Ivan Baranchyk (20-1, 13 KOs) on Tuesday night. The 26-year-old Castaneda (17-1, 8 KOs, 1 NC) replaced Baranchyk early last week because Baranchyk suffered a rib injury during a sparring session.
Zepeda was supposed to battle Baranchyk at the junior welterweight limit of 140 pounds. The contract maximum was increased to 144 pounds to accommodate Castaneda because he was willing to take this difficult fight on such short notice.
Earlier Monday afternoon, Andy Vences and Luis Alberto Lopez met their contractual obligations for their 10-round junior lightweight fight Tuesday night.
Vences (23-1-1, 12 KOs), of San Jose, California, officially weighed in at 129½ pounds. Mexico’s Lopez (20-2, 11 KOs) came in at 128¼ pounds.
Below are the weights for the remaining four fights that make up Top Rank’s six-bout card Tuesday night.
Genaro Gamez (9-1, 6 KOs), San Diego, 146 pounds vs. Reymond Yanong (11-5-1, 9 KOs), Manila, Philippines, 141½ pounds, 8 rounds, welterweights.
Andres Cortes (12-0, 7 KOs), Las Vegas, 132½ pounds vs. Alejandro Salinas (10-3, 9 KOs), Youngstown, Ohio, 132¼ pounds, 8 rounds, lightweights.
Gabriel Murtalla (3-0, 3 KOs), Fontana, California, 118¾ pounds vs. Sergio Lopez (4-5-3), Las Vegas, 119¼ pounds, 4 rounds, junior featherweights.
Eric Puente (2-0), Vista, California, 135 pounds vs. Diego Elizondo (2-1-2), Carson City, Nevada, 135¾ pounds, 4 rounds, junior welterweights.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Puente-Elizondo and Gamez-Yanong fights will not air live on ESPN. Those bouts will be recorded before the broadcast begins at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT and will be part of the three-hour show only if time permits based on the length of the other four fights.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
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