William Zepeda overwhelms Lamont Roach to seize WBC lightweight title; Raymond Muratalla retains over Robson Conceicao

Pressure prevailed in Saturday's lightweight championship doubleheader.

In the night's main event, William Zepeda outworked and outfought Lamont Roach to capture the vacant WBC lightweight title at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, while Raymond Muratalla dominated Robson Conceicao in the co-feature to retain his IBF lightweight crown.

Zepeda (34-1, 27 KOs), who hadn't boxed since suffering a convincing decision loss to Shakur Stevenson in July 2025, showed the boxing world that just because he was no match for Stevenson doesn't mean he's not among the elite at 135 pounds.

Heading into the fight, Roach (25-2-3, 11 KOs) was coming off a pair of controversial draws to Gervonta "Tank" Davis in March 2025 and Isaac "Pitbull" Cruz this past December. There was nothing debatable about his loss Saturday to Zepeda, though.

The Mexican's relentless pressure and notorious volume were at the center of his first world title win. Zepeda's combinations often included a dozen punches, with body shots, hooks and left hands all part of the package. And more often than not, they were left without a sufficient response from Roach.

It was a struggle to split the pair through the first two rounds, but the third was the first clear round for either fighter — and it was for Zepeda, who started consistently closing the gap, backing Roach onto the ropes and teeing off with flurries. It wasn't just volume, though; Zepeda also connected with quality power punches, particularly with his left hand down the middle.

Open scoring was used for the championship doubleheader, which means that after four and eight rounds, the official scorecards were revealed. One judge had the contest level after four, while the other two had Zepeda up 39-37, showing how pressure was being favored in the bout.

In Round 5, it became more apparent that Zepeda's volume was overwhelming Roach and making him uncomfortable. Roach appeared reluctant to let his own hands go for fear of Zepeda pummeling him with a dozen shots.

Zepeda built up a strong lead in the middle parts of the fight. The new champion refused to slow down his offense, and when Roach did land with shots, Zepeda brushed them off and continued to press forward. 

After eight rounds, Roach was behind 77-75 on two scorecards and 78-74 on a third. The ninth round was one of the best of the fight for Zepeda, which meant that Roach had to win each of the final three rounds to get his third consecutive career draw.

But, in fact, it was Zepeda who took a clean sweep of the final three frames.

Although Roach did increase his volume and walked Zepeda into counter rights and check hooks, the judges favored the non-stop intensity Zepeda was bringing to the fight. It did appear that Roach was landing the cleaner punches in Rounds 10 and 11, but Zepeda's activity — despite sometimes landing on Roach's guard — was eye-catching for the scoring panel, and those optics helped seal his win.

In the end, two judges awarded Zepeda nine rounds, 117-111, while a third gave him 10, 118-110.

In the night's co-feature, Muratalla won a wide unanimous decision (118-110, 119-109, 119-109) over Conceicao.

As the bigger and stronger fighter, Muratalla (25-0, 17 KOs) controlled the contest with front-foot pressure and sustained body work. His skilled footwork also allowed him to surprise Conceicao (21-4-1, 10 KOs) by punching from different angles and keeping him guessing with repeated foot feints.

Conceicao was ultimately no match for Muratalla in their lopsided, uneventful bout. Muratalla hinted that a move to 140 pounds was likely in his immediate future.

Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy via Getty Images

Check out complete Zepeda vs. Roach results and highlights below, as well as Uncrowned's play-by-play of the main card.

Main card

WBC lightweight title: William Zepeda def. Lamont Roach via unanimous decision (117-111, 117-111, 118-110)

IBF lightweight title: Raymond Muratalla def. Robson Conceicao via unanimous decision (118-110, 119-109, 119-109)

Welterweight: Raul Curiel def. Quinton Randall via majority decision (95-95, 97-93, 100-90)

Super welterweight: Charles Conwell def. Paul Kroll via ninth-round TKO | Watch video

Prelims

Super lightweight: Juan Carlos Becerril def. Dylan Capetillo via third-round KO | Watch video

Welterweight: Joel Iriarte def. Jorge Lagunas via eighth-round TKO | Watch video

Middleweight: Fabian Guzman def. Aaron Coley via unanimous decision (78-74 ×2, 79-73)

Super bantamweight: Gael Cabrera def. Francisco Pedroza Portillo via unanimous decision (79-73 ×2, 80-72)

Lightweight: Dalis Kaleiopu def. Yeyery Castillo via first-round KO | Watch video