Arif Magomedov Looks To Continue His Rise at Middleweight

By Francisco Salazar

Middleweight Arif Magomedov has quietly become a top five middleweight contender over the last couple of years. He hopes to continue building on that momentum as he returns to action Saturday night.

Magomedov will face Andrew Hernandez at the Downtown Las Vegas (Nev.) Events Center in Las Vegas.

The 10 round bout will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network, beginning at 11 p.m. ET/ 8 p.m. PT.

Magomedov (17-0, 10 KOs) has not fought since Dec. 12, when he knocked out Jonathan Tavira in the seventh round.

The 23-year-old is already ranked amongst the top five in three sanctioning bodies. Magomedov, who is promoted by Main Events, is ranked as high as number two by the WBC.

This is a stay-busy fight for Magomedov as a legitimate shot against the likes of Gennady Golovkin, who holds the WBC, IBF, and WBA world title belts, may come much later rather than sooner.

Hernandez (11-4-1, 3 KOs) stopped Dionisio Miranda after the seventh round in his last bout on Mar.  26. He is 3-3 in his last six bouts, with those losses coming to Louis Rose, Kyrone Davis, and Ahmed Elbiali.

In the co-main event, unbeaten junior middleweight John Vera (13-0, 8 KOs) squares off against Joey Ruelas (10-1-1, 4 KOs) in an eight round bout.

Also on the Roy Jones Jr. Boxing Promotions card, featherweight Jerren Cochran (11-0-1, 4 KOs) faces Juan Antonio Lopez (10-1, 3 KOs) in an eight round bout.

Amateur standout Devin Haney (5-0, 3 KOs) will face Jairo Vargas Fernandez (4-0, 3 KOs) in a four round lightweight bout.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing