By Francisco Salazar

Hector Tanajara, Jr. is transitioning well from unbeaten fighter to legit prospect. He hopes to become a contender next year, that according to his manager/ trainer.

Tanajara will square off against Hector Ambriz tonight at the Belasco Theatre in Los Angeles. The eight round bout will precede the eight round main event bout between Marlen Esparza (4-0) and Laetizia Campana (2-4).

Both fights will air live tonight on Estrella TV and RingTV.com (10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT).

Tanajara (12-0, 5 knockouts) knocked out Eduardo Rivera in the opening round of his last bout on Feb. 22. Tanajara is from San Antonio, but trains in Riverside, Calif.

The 21-year-old Tanajara has passed each test thus far in his career, and there are plans for him to step up more in opposition later this year, should he come out victorious against Ambriz.

Part of his growth as a fighter has been the sparring and the hard regimen provided by Robert Garcia.

“He’s getting better and better,” Garcia told BoxingScene.com Thursday morning. “He’s sparring Mikey (Garcia), (Abner) Mares, Lindolfo Delgado, and Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz.”

Garcia manages and trains Tanajara.

At 5’10”, Tanajara is one of the taller junior lightweights in boxing. Whereas some fighters may not know how to use their height or reach advantages, Garcia believes Tanajara will continue to get better utilizing those characteristics.

“He uses his height very well. Everything he does is off that long jab.”

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing