JOHN Vincent Moralde is in for another tough fight in the United States as he takes on unbeaten Mexican William Zepeda on Nov. 13, 2021 at the Honda Center in Los Angeles, California.
Moralde hasn’t had much success in his campaign in the US since 2017, wherein he’s 2-6 in American soil.
He’ll be coming in as a huge underdog and will be looking to turn things around with a huge upset in what should be one of the biggest fights of his career.
After winning 19 straight fights, the 27-year-old Davao City native tried his luck in the US in 2017. He fought highly touted Toka Kahn Clary and suffered the first setback of his career with a seventh round stoppage loss.
He bounced back with an impressive unanimous decision win over unbeaten prospect Ismael Muwendo in 2018 but later on lost by unanimous decision to current World Boxing Organization super featherweight king Jamel Herring.
In 2019, Moralde lost to Xavier Martinez via a third round stoppage and beat Matias Agustin Arriagada via a first round technical knockout in the US. He fought one more fight in the US in 2020 and lost to Jose Enrique Vivas by a first round technical knockout.
Moralde is coming off a unanimous decision win over Kim Lindog in General Santos City last March 17.
Zepeda, on the other hand, fought in Mexico most of his career. He made his US debut in 2020 with a fifth round knockout of Robert Ramirez in Los Angeles. He followed it up with a sixth round stoppage win over previously unbeaten prospect Hector Tanajara to claim the World Boxing Association (WBA) Continental Americas lightweight belt. The 24-year-old San Mateo Atenco native is currently rated No. 11 by the WBA.
Moralde is 24-4 with 13 knockouts, while Zepeda is 23-0 with 21 knockouts.