By Jake Donovan

Some are calling it Miguel Cotto - Antonio Margarito lite. Others believe it will go down as the best ever fight on the Telefutura Solo Boxeo Tecate circuit.

Whatever your desire, there's no denying that the welterweight matchup between Jesus Soto Karass and David Estrada (Friday, 8PM ET/PT, Las Vegas, Nevada) is the perfect way to kick off a big fight weekend in Las Vegas.

The Cotto-Margarito comparisons were inevitable. Estrada (22-4,13KO) was summoned to serve in Miguel Cotto's training camp, while Soto-Karass (20-3-3, 14KO) is the longtime chief sparring partner for countryman Antonio Margarito. If the two fights wind up resembling one another, it will have been one hell of a weekend for boxing fans. But even on its own merits, this week's Telefutura main event should prove to be worth the watch.

Fans get their money's worth almost every time Soto Karass steps foot into the ring. No viewing audience knows that better than the Solo Boxeo crowd, with Soto Karass' fight tonight marking his seventh Telefutura appearance in his last eight fights.

His last performance was better for his fans than it was for his career progress. One night before his mentor Antonio Margarito would whip Kermit Cintron for the second time in as many tries, Soto Karass struggled at times in outlasting welterweight trialhorse Chris Smith.

The 25-year old Mexican brawler turned in a similar performance one fight prior against Germaine Sanders. While a win is what matters most when you're attempting to establish yourself as a bonafide contender, concern has risen over how much of himself is being left in the gym, with Margarito known to go full throttle with all of his sparring partners.

It's possible that a piece of his prime was snatched in his punch-a-thon against Juan Buendia last November. The bout was the opening act of a VERSUS telecast, and fans watched in awe as the two fighters did their best windmill impressions for ten straight rounds. But it was Soto Karass who always managed to stay a step ahead throughout, ultimately taking a unanimous decision win.

While he's looked less than stellar in his last two fights, the fact is that Soto Karass keeps winning. He is now 9-0-2 in his last 11 fights dating back to May 2005. It's much better place than where he was prior to the unbeaten streak. All three of his career losses came back-to-back-to-back over a 13-month stretch beginning in 2004. Aside from being aggressively matched (all three losses came against undefeated opposition), Soto Karass was allowing himself to be outworked in fight.

That flaw would be corrected beginning with the draw to Gomez in 2005, and El Renuente has never looked back. The win that truly put him on the map was an 11th round knockout of previously unbeaten Michel Rosales, which also ignited his recurring role as an action hero on Solo Boxeo. The two went to war in the early going, but it was Soto Karass' pressure and non-stop workrate that would eventually lead to Rosales being forced to concede.

The fight would become his trademark, further accentuated in last year's war with Buendia, which set several Compubox records.

It's that type of workrate that will be necessary to win tonight, and remain afloat in a welterweight division overflowing with talent. Nobody knows this better than David Estrada, who's become something of a welterweight trialhorse in recent years, though not often to the result of his liking.

There was a time in Estrada's career where he was to Showtime's Shobox series what Soto Karass is to Telefutura. His televised debut also resulted in the first loss of his career, dropping a ten-round decision to Ishe Smith in July 2003. He was brought back to Shobox nearly a year later. It would result in the biggest win of his career to that point. Fittingly enough, it came against the same fighter who dealt Soto Karass his first defeat, Nurhan Suleymanoglu, whom Estrada easily handled en route to a wide decision win.

That win would be trumped by his next performance, a dominant 11th round stoppage of highly touted and previously unbeaten Chris Smith. It was that fight, which marked his third Shobox appearance in a four-fight span, which led to the biggest fight of Estrada's career – an April '05 date with former three-division world champion Shane Mosley.

"We have to strike while the iron is hot, and we could be catching Mosley at the perfect time" was how promoter Lou DiBella put it heading into that fight. Shane entered the bout having lost two straight to Winky Wright, and with only a controversial win over Oscar de la Hoya in their rematch serving as his lone victory over a three-year stretch. But it was against Estrada where Mosley would revert to form. Estrada looked flat, thoroughly outworked for much of their ten-round bout in dropping a decision in an uninspiring performance.

There was nothing disappointing about his follow-up performance, at least to those watching at home on ESPN2. Estrada probably didn't care for the final outcome – a 10th round knockout loss to Kermit Cintron, but the bout was named an instant classic and one of 2006's best fights. Estrada gave Cintron hell all night, but fell behind midway through the bout before being taken out in round ten.

The loss was his second straight, prompting his team to take the slow road back to contender status. He's since won four of his last five, though against modest opposition. The one opponent of note, of course, was Andre Berto, which resulted in Estrada's only loss over that stretch. It was the biggest step in Berto's career to that point, and Estrada had his moments, but was eventually beaten into submission midway through the 11th round on HBO.

It's safe to say that Estrada comes into this fight the far more desperate of the two. Though having previously reached perennial contender status, his career is at a point where one more loss at any level will forever write off his chances as a player in the welterweight division. But while Soto Karass hasn't lost in well over three years, he still lacks the type of win that suggests he's ready for the division's best.

Tonight's meeting at the crossroads will leave one fighter knocking on the door of contender status, the other pondering what could've been. The final outcome is hardly predictable, though it's a safe guess that boxing fans go home getting their money's worth and fully primed for an already anticipated boxing weekend.

Jake Donovan is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the Tennessee Boxing Advisory Board. Comments/questions can be submitted to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com