Former WBA light welterweight champion Jose Valenzuela has called for a world title fight against newly crowned WBC lightweight champion William Zepeda, following his second-round stoppage victory over Edwin De Los Santos on 28 June.
Valenzuela, who holds a record of 16 victories and three defeats with 10 knockouts, is attempting to leverage his swift win over De Los Santos into another immediate title opportunity. The American contender stopped a ring-rusty De Los Santos inside two rounds in his previous outing. Meanwhile, Zepeda captured the WBC lightweight crown last Saturday after securing a unanimous decision victory over Lamont Roach Jr. Following Zepeda’s championship triumph, Valenzuela publicly extended congratulations while offering a direct challenge for a future bout.
Writing on X, Valenzuela offered his congratulations in Spanish: “Felicidades por la victoria. Sin duda, es otra gran pelea que me encantaría hacer. Ojalá algún día podamos compartir el ring,”
He provided the direct translation of his post: “Congratulations on the victory. Without a doubt, it’s another great fight that I’d love to make. Hopefully one day we can share the ring.”
Before directing his focus toward Zepeda, Valenzuela repeatedly called out fellow Zuffa fighter Shakur Stevenson, the current WBO light welterweight champion. However, those public challenges failed to generate significant traction within the division.
Arranging a contest between Valenzuela and Zepeda presents severe commercial and organizational obstacles. Zepeda is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and competes exclusively on DAZN. Conversely, Valenzuela fights under the Zuffa Boxing banner, with his events broadcast on Paramount+. Crossing promotional boundaries and television platforms remains a rare occurrence in modern boxing, usually requiring immense financial backing to materialize. Neither promotion has shown any willingness to cooperate on a joint venture thus far. As a result, Valenzuela may be forced to seek opponents internally, while Zepeda searches for higher-profile contenders in the lightweight division.
