By Jake Donovan
The WBO announced on Thursday morning the official for Saturday’s strawweight title fight between defending champion Raul Garcia and first-time challenger Moises Fuentes.
Jose Maria Zavala has been assigned as the third man for the bout, which takes place at the Auditorio Benito Juarez in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. The three judges are Alejandro Lopez-Cid, Victor Salomon and Alfredo Polanco.
All four officials are from Mexico, as are the two fighters.
The bout serves as the second title defense for Garcia (30-1-1, 18KO) since acquiring the vacant belt last October. The title was vacated by Donnie Nietes, who opted to move up in weight. Coincidentally enough, his next title challenge comes this October against Ramon Garcia, Raul’s twin brother.
Garcia is in the midst of his second alphabet title reign, having first won a belt in 2008. He made five successful title defenses before losing to Nkosinathi Joyi last March.
Fuentes (13-1, 10KO) ventures into his first major title fight, despite suffering his first loss just six month ago. The defeat came at the hands of Juan Hernandez, though unofficially in a junior flyweight bout, as Hernandez failed to make the strawweight limit.
The bout airs live on Fox Deportes this weekend (Saturday 10PM ET/7PM PT), serving as the first leg of a televised doubleheader. Hard-hitting hometown favorite Ulises “Archie” Solis (33-2-3, 21KO) headlines the telecast in the first defense of his second alphabet title reign as he faces unbeaten Filipino challenger Jether Oliva (17-0-1, 11KO).
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at twitter.com/JakeNDaBox or submit questions/comments to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.