By Francisco Salazar
Unbeaten Brian Castano will face his toughest challenge to date as a pro tonight, as he squares off against contender Michel Soro.
Castano will defend his interim WBA World junior middleweight title in a 12 round bout at the Casino d'Evian in Evian les Bains, France.
Castano (13-0, with 10 KOs) won the interim WBA title in his last bout on November 26, surviving a second round knockdown to knock out Emmanuel de Jesus in round six. The 27-year-old from Buenos Aires, Argentina, has nowhere near fought the level of opposition Soro has fought, yet is the mandatory challenger for the WBA title.
Soro (30-1, with 20 KOs) is ranked number three by the WBA and number six by the IBF.
In his last bout on April 22, Soro stopped former world title contender Javier Maciel in the third round. Originally from the Ivory Coast and now residing in Villeurbanne, France, Soro is unbeaten since his 12 round decision loss to Zaurbek Baysangurov in May of 2012, a string of 13 bouts.
Aside from the Maciel win, and a close draw against Antoine Douglas in July of 2014, Soro has defeated fringe contenders Glen Tapia and Hector Saldivia.
Manager Gary Hyde told Boxingscene.com unbeaten welterweight prospect Mohammed Rabii (2-0, with 1 KO), who won the bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, will face Temur Abuladze (7-1, with 5 KOs) in a six round bout.
Cruiserweight Arsen Goulamirian (20-0, with 12 KOs), who is ranked number two by the WBA, faces Mitch Williams (15-5-3, with 10 KOs) in a 10 round bout.
Unbeaten super middleweight Mickael Diallo (15-0-2, with 12 KOs) will square off against veteran Bernard Donfack (23-15-3, with 11 KOs) in an eight round 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 (Calif.) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing