by Francisco Salazar, photo by Jeremy Thomas

Featherweight Rufino Serrano will face Joe Perez in a crossroads bout Friday night.

The eight round bout will take place at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, California.

Friday's fight card will mark the first time professional boxing will take place at venue located along California's Central Coast since January of 2015.

Serrano (15-6, 1 knockout), who resides in nearby Santa Maria, returned from an almost three-year hiatus on Apr. 8 of last year, winning a six round majority decision over Christian Silva.

Prior to the Silva fight, Serrano had lost three of his previous five bouts.

Perez (11-3-1, 9 KOs), who resides in San Diego, has fought more frequently than Serrano, but against more inferior opposition. In his last bout on May 19, Cruz won a four round unanimous decision over Carl Currie.

Perez's most notable name on his record was a six round split decision loss to Kevin Cruz on Sept. 9.

Featherweight John Leo Dato (5-0, 3 KOs) will square off against Antonio Rodriguez (12-22-1, 5 KOs) in a four round bout.

Rudy Ochoa, Jr. (5-0, 3 KOs), who resides in Oxnard, will face Johnny Estrada (0-4) in a four round lightweight bout.

Three more four-round bouts will round out the professional portion of the card. Five amateur bouts will open up the World Fighting Championships card.

The fight card begins at about 5:30 p.m. local time, while the pro bouts will commence at about 7 p.m.

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. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing