The one-week delay merely prolonged the inevitable.

William Zepeda resumed his knockout ways with an overwhelming two-round blitzing of Panama’s Jaime Arboleda. Three knockdowns were produced by the unbeaten 26-year-old Mexican southpaw, the last of which produced the full ten count at 2:16 of round two in their DAZN-televised main event Saturday evening at College Park Center at the University of Texas at Arlington.   

Zepeda sought a home for his potent left hand early in the fight. Arboleda was prepared for the approach as he often clinched whenever the two were on the inside. The taller and more mobile Arboleda used his legs to create distance and was able to drop straight rights on Zepeda’s chin. Zepeda didn’t show any concern of the incoming, as he would exhibit in the following round.  

Arboleda quickly ran out of ring space early in round two. Zepeda immediately pinned the fringe contender along the ropes and raked his body, which produced all three knockdowns. The first one saw Arboleda take a knee and an eight count but it was clear that the ending was near.

“We noticed at the end of the first round that he was lowering his hands,” Zepeda said of Arboleda’s defensive lapses. “That was what allowed us to jump on him the way we did.”

Zepeda continued to keep the attack downstairs, which caused Arboleda to once again hit the deck. Another eight count was issued but Zepeda wasn’t interested in allowing the fight to last much longer. A subsequent volley caused Arboleda to pitch forward to the canvas, this time for the full ten count.

Arboleda’s modest three fight win streak came to a screeching halt as he fell to 19-3 (14KOs). The loss was the first since his one-sided, eleventh-round knockout defeat to then-unbeaten interim WBA junior lightweight titlist Chris Colbert in December 2020.

Zepeda soared to 28-0 (24KOs) with his first knockout in more than a year. His past two bouts went the distance though he took full advantage of the mismatch on Saturday and closed the show in style.

The bout was moved to this show after Vergil Ortiz Jr. (19-0, 19KOs) once again suffered from rhabdomyolysis, which forced him to withdraw from a planned challenge of WBA ‘Regular’ welterweight titlist Eimantas Stanionis. Zepeda-Arboleda was originally due to take place on the April 22 Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia undercard.

The lower profile show didn’t at all dull Zepeda’s desire to make a statement—in fact, motivated to rise to the occasion in honor of the undefeated welterweight contender.

“As fighters we all want to get in the ring,” Zepeda noted to DAZN/Golden Boy’s Beto Duran in the ring after his latest win. “My heart goes out to Vergil Ortiz. I hope is able to put his best foot forward and can get back into the ring soon.”

Noted as the busiest puncher at lightweight, Zepeda—who entered the fight averaging more than 100 punches thrown per round—was relatively tame in comparison. Six months after destroying the divisional record with 1,536 total punches thrown in a twelve-round win over former IBF junior lightweight titlist Joseph Diaz,  Compubox credited Zepeda with landing 44-of-119 total punches (39.5%) in just five minutes on Saturday. The bulk of the damage was done with body work, as part of his 32-of-81 power punches landed (39.5%). Arboleda did his best to keep pace but was only able to land just 23-of-107 total punches (21.5%) and 18-of-51 power shots (35.3%), none of which were able to slow down his red-hot opponent.

Naturally, the conversation quickly turned to who is next for Zepeda, who is highly ranked the WBC, WBA and WBO. His blowout win comes seven days after Baltimore’s Davis (29-0, 27KOs) delivered a statement-making performance in a seventh-round knockout of Garcia last weekend atop a blockbuster pay-per-view event in Las Vegas.

While Davis represents by far the most lucrative option for any lightweight, there also exists the most significant bout that the division has to offer. Undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney (29-0, 15KOs) defends his fully unified crown versus former three-division titlist Vasiliy Lomachenko (17-2, 11KOs) on May 20 in Las Vegas.

Also in the mix is unbeaten former two-division champ Shakur Stevenson (20-0, 10KOs), who enjoyed a successful 135-pound debut with a sixth-round knockout of undefeated Shuichiro Yoshino on April 8 in Newark, New Jersey. Isaac Cruz, Zepeda’s countryman from Mexico City, continues to lurk among the top contenders.

Simply put, there is no shortage of tough options available for Zepeda. Not only is he well aware, but he openly embraces any challenge thrown his way.

“It’s a loaded division,” noted Zepeda. “We know that and we are ready to fight anybody. We want to fight for a title, it doesn’t matter who it is. We are ready.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox