ANAHEIM - Lightweight William Zepeda battered former prospect John Vincent Moralde through three-plus rounds, eventually earning the knockout win in round 4. 

Zepeda, who resides in San Mateo Atencio, Mexico, improves to 24-0, 22 knockouts. 

Saturday night marked another impressive performance for Zepeda, who is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions. In his last bout on July 9, Zepeda was coming off an impressive knockout win over Hector Tanajara, Jr. in a clash of unbeaten lightweights. 

The 25-year-old southpaw was facing a fighter in Moralde, who had won three of his previous four bouts, with the lone loss coming at the hands of Mexico's Jose Durante Vivas on October 17 of last year.

Zepeda was on the offensive from the opening bell, walking Moralde down against the ropes. Moralde would counter Zepeda with an occasional left hook or right hand to the head, but Zepeda's volume punching would easily win him rounds.

Moralde stood and traded in the pocket in round 2, but that made it easy for Zepeda to connect thudding punches to the head and body. 

As the bout progressed, Zepeda's punches began taking their toll on Moralde, whose punch output began to drop, relegating him to throw one punch at a time. Moralde was forced to defend himself more with each passing moment as Zepeda gained more confidence with each passing minute. 

Midway through round 4, Zepeda pinned Moralde against the ropes, battering him with combinations to the head and body. Moralde tried to fight back, but Zepeda's punches continued to do damage. A combination to the head forced Moralde to turn away, prompting referee Eddie Hernandez to stop the fight at 1:59.

Saturday night marked Zepeda's third fight in the United States, where he has told Boxingscene he would like to fight more often. More opportunities likely await Zepeda, who is managed by Jaime Picos.

Moralde, who is originally from the Philippines and now resides in Miami, Florida, drops to 24-5, 13 KOs. 

Francisco A. Salazar has written for BoxingScene since September 2012 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 by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing