By Steve Kim
It was announced on Tuesday afternoon that 2016 Mexican Olympian, Raul Curiel, had signed a promotional deal with Golden Boy Promotions. The 21-year old Curiel is aligned with respected manager, Frank Espinoza, who also inked Curiel's Olympic teammate, Joselito Velasquez.
Espinoza says that taking Curiel to Golden Boy was a relatively easy decision.
"I've had a very fruitful relationship in the past with this company and I have other boxers such as Antonio Orozco, Joet Gonzalez and Emilio Sanchez with them," Espinoza said to BoxingScene.com. "I'm very comfortable with their staff and the direction of the company."
And there was one very key factor in going with Golden Boy, according to Espinoza, who in the past has handled the likes of Israel Vazquez, Martin Castillo, Abner Mares and currently the likes of Oscar Valdez and Jessie Magdaleno.
"They have a lot of dates for 2017 and beyond. You need a full schedule of fights to keep fighters active and progressing and they recently announced a big deal with ESPN which will provide different platforms for boxers to perform. That was very appealing to me as a manager knowing that Golden Boy will have plenty of opportunities for my guys," Espinoza said.
As previously mentioned, Curiel won the silver medal in the lightweight division at the World Championships in Yerevan. Curiel won the bronze medal at the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games in Veracruz. In the semi-finals he defeated Cuba's Yasniel Toledo.
Curiel was also a top fighter in the World Series of Boxing as a member of the Mexico Guerreros.
Espinoza says that Curiel make his pro debut on the Saul Alvarez-Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. undercard on May 6th from the T-Mbile Arena in Las Vegas.
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.