Junior lightweight contender Andres Cortes looks to continue his world title march against Spaniard Salvador Jimenez over 10 rounds on Saturday, May 10, at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego.
They will clash on the Emanuel Navarrete-Charly Suarez bill which is joined at the top of the card by Raymond Muratalla-Zaur Abdullaev.
Cortes, the WBO’s No. 5 who is 22-0 (12 KOs), said: “I’m back and ready to show everyone why I’m still a force at junior lightweight. I’m looking for a title shot this year, and it all starts on May 10 when I put on a great performance against Jimenez.”
Cortez had stopped Xavier Martinez and Bryan Chevalier in consecutive fights and last summer defeated former champion Abraham Nova with a controversial decision.
Cortes suffered an injury later in the year, and that forced a fight with Jimenez to be shelved.
Jimenez is 14-1-1 (6 KOs) and lost to Ryan Garner, from Southampton in the UK, last March.
Also on the bill, featherweight prospect Albert “Chop Chop” Gonzalez, 13-0 (7 KOs), takes on Jose Guardado, 16-3-1 (6 KOs), in a 10-rounder and lightweight Alan “Kid Kansas” Garcia, 15-1 (11 KOs) fights Mexico’s Cristian Medina Garcia, 8-2-1 (5 KOs), in an eight-rounder.
Elsewhere on the card, rising Mexican junior featherweight Sebastian “Logan” Hernandez, 19-0 (18 KOs), battles former world title challenger Azat “Crazy A” Hovhannisyan, 21-5 (17 KOs), over eight rounds. Hernandez is on a 17-fight KO streak.
Sammy Contreras, 1-0 (1 KO), will box a four-rounder at junior welterweight and new Top Rank signing Top Rank’s Perla Bazaldua, who is 1-0 (1 KO), makes her promotional debut in a four-round junior bantamweight bout against Saint Louis’ Mona Ward, who is 0-1. There is also a slot on the bill for Briana Carrera, 3-0 (1 KO), a Top Rank junior welterweight, making her debut with Top Rank and on ESPN, over four rounds against Texan Kacey Wheeler, who is 2-0 (2 KOs).
