Zepeda is ready with several game plans to conquer Cabrera

William Zepeda (30-0, 26 KOs) reveals he has several game plans to use tonight to defeat Giovanni Cabrera (22-1, 7 KOs) in their lightweight bout at the Toyota Center in Ontario, Calif.

(Photo credit: Golden Boy / Cris Esqueda)

Adapting to Cabrera’s elusive style

Zepeda recognizes that Cabrera’s fighting style will make it difficult for him to utilize his high-volume offense, which is why he has been working on other game plans throughout camp to find something that will lead to victory in their 12-round main event.

The Zepeda-Cabrera match will be broadcast live on DAZN tonight. The broadcast will begin at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT.

Zepeda, 28, wouldn’t say why his promoters chose Cabrera as an opponent over a more hittable fighter who would have agreed to make a trade. It could be that Golden Boy sees Cabrera as good preparation for WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson, a fighter who moves and is hard to hit.

Zepeda is ranked No. 1 in the WBC, so he could soon challenge Shakur if Golden Boy wants that champion for his young star.

Zepeda’s confidence and adaptability

“We know he’s a tough fighter, a difficult fighter. We know his style. We have a couple of fight plans if our main game plan doesn’t work, and I came to beat him,” William Zepeda told Fighthype of tonight’s opponent, Giovanni Cabrera.

It will be interesting to see if Zepeda can move well enough to cut off the ring to Cabrera if he chooses to stay on the move. Cabrera and his trainer have learned that they lack the offensive tools to stand and fight Zepeda without becoming another KO victim.

“That’s the type of fighter I am. I throw a lot of punches and I work for that type of style throughout my career, but we know Giovanni Cabrera is a different type of fighter. So I worked on a little bit different type of things this time around,” Zepeda said.

“I’m holding back a little bit more, trying to throw harder punches because I know he’s a surprising fighter and I can probably get surprised by him if I get carried away. He’s had a hard time finding a training partner who throws a lot of punches like me,” Zepeda said of what Cabrera has had to do in training camp to prepare for his high-volume fighting style.

Throwing harder shots could help Zepeda as he is likely to have limited opportunities to connect on Cabrera if he moves.

“It was hard for me to find a sparring partner like Cabrera. I’m going to try to make him fight like me. I’m going to try to make him do what I want him to do and stay at my distance. We’ll see how the rounds go and how the fight plan goes. I want to beat him convincingly to show that I belong at 135,” Zepeda said.