Herrera Hopes Frankie Gomez Bout Gets Done For Canelo-Khan

By Miguel Rivera

After missing out on a fight with Lucas Matthysse, junior welterweight contender Mauricio 'Maestro' Herrera could still find himself in a very good position as part of the undercard to the upcoming HBO Pay-Per-View showdown between Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez and Amir Khan, which takes place on May 7th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The opponent in the opposite corner would be unbeaten Frankie 'Pitbull' Gómez, who is trained by Hall of Fame coach Freddie Roach.

In addition to Canelo-Khan and Herrera-Gomez - Cuban heavyweight Luis Ortiz could be in action, and BoxingScene.com first reported that former middleweight champion David Lemieux will make his return against Glen Tapia.

The fight with Matthysse appeared to be done, but then the Argentinean puncher withdrew with an eye injury that was still lingering from last October's knockout loss to Viktor Postol.

Herrera has a record of 22-5 with 7 knockouts, while Gomez comes in with a record of 20-0 and 13 knockouts.

"We are ready for the May 7. We've got Frankie Gomez, the 'Pitbull.' He it is a brave opponent. He's another tough fighter, and again it's a good fight for the people," Herrera said to ESPN Deportes. "I wanted the fight at 147 pounds, they wanted 140 pounds, but eventually we [agreed to] fight at 146 pounds."

"I think this fight will be televised on the pay-per-view. We have not signed, but this week we hope to do so."

Herrera said that after the announcement of Matthysse being unable to fight on May 7, he rested for a few days. But after the deal for Gomez got closer to being a reality, he returned to a full training load.

"I'm training hard in Riverside, California....here we have a gym, good atmosphere and good sparring partners. Certainly I have everything to prepare well for the fight," said Herrera.