Joseph “JoJo” Diaz, JR and Antonio “Relentless” Orozco Back in Action Saturday Night

By Anthony “Stacks” Saldaña
Photo by Cynthia “Cindy Lou” Saldaña

Saturday night a Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California, Golden Boy Promotions will showcase two of their top boxing prospects as Joseph “JoJo” Diaz, JR. and Antonio “Relentless” Orozco will headline a televised HBO Latino card in separate bouts.

In the main event, San Diego’s Antonio “Relentless” Orozco, 24-0, 16 KO’s takes on Abner “Jaeger” Lopez, 25-5, 19 KO’s, a tough fighter from Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico known for his heavy punch and endurance in the ring. Orozco who is ranked #1 by the WBC and in the top 10 by all major world sanctioning bodies in division, is one of the most promising contenders at super lightweight, and looks to give fight fans a big night of action Saturday.

Since his last fight March 25th against former WBA Super Lightweight World Champion Miguel “Aguacerito” Acosta, 29-9-2, 23 KO’s, Orozco and his manager Frank Espinoza have restructured his contract with Golden Boy Promotions and are hoping to be fighting for a world title by the end of 2016 with a victory over Lopez.

In the Co-main event of the night, undefeated contender, Joseph “JoJo” Diaz, JR., 20-0, 11 KO’s will put his NABF Featherweight Title on the line in a 10-round featherweight fight against Victor “Pitufo” Proa, 28-1-2, 21 KO’s of Monterey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Proa who is only fighting for the third time in the United States is a well known fighter out of Mexico who plans on giving “JoJo” his first defeat. For Diaz, he’s coming off a big win over Jayson Velez, a fight that was aired on HBO as the co-main event for the Andre Ward vs Sullivan Barrera. That night Diaz walked away with a one sided unanimous decision to keep his unbeaten streak alive and elevate him into the top 10 of all three of the major sanctioning bodies rankings. With a victory over Proa, Diaz will be looking to fight the best in a stacked featherweight division and eventually for a title in 2017.

Also on the card Saturday night is super bantamweight Roy “Pitbull” Tapia, 11-1-2, 6 KO’s as he battles Jairo Hernandez, 17-9, 9 KO’s from Torreon, Coahuilla, Mexico. East Los Angeles, Tapia a Southern California favorite, and is a popular fighter on the fight scene. Tapia stayed busy in 2014 and 2015 taking on tough fighters such as Erik Ruiz, Juan Luis “Perla Negra” Hernandez, Ali Gonzalez, Luis “Titi” Maldonado and Omar “Chacalito” Aguilar. Now fighting for the first time in 2016, Tapia will be looking for redemption after his first career loss as he faces Jairo Hernandez in his return to Fantasy Spring Resort Casino on July 30th. Jario who’s record is deceiving has fought some of the best in the division including, McJoe Arroyo, Tomoki Kameda, and undefeated Jorge Lara who is coming off a devastating knockout win over Fernando Montiel in April at the StubHub Center. I Look for the Tapia vs. Hernandez fight to be the fight of the night.

Other bouts include former amateur star, Nick “La Calavera” Arce, 8-0, 6 KO’s as he takes on Jesus Aguinaga, 4-4-1. In his first fight of 2016, Arce the hard-hitting featherweight of Honduran and Salvadoran descent took on seasoned fighter Luiz “Lichito” Lizarraga, JR. Arce went the distance for the first time in his career winning the fight via unanimous decision. In his second fight, Arce was part of the non-televised action on the undercard of Francisco Vargas vs. Orlando Salido card on June 4, at the StubHub Center in Carson, California. Arce beat Francisco Dominguez via unanimous decision with scores of 60-54 from all three judges. Aguinaga is known by Southern California fight fans for his bloody war with Adan Mares in April at the StubHub Center, a fight that ended in a draw.

To open up the card Saturday Virgil Ortiz of Grand Prairie, Texas makes his pro debut against Julio Rodas, 0-2. Ortiz is a seven-time national champion, and winner of the 2013 Junior Olympics with a record of 140-20. Ortiz began his career at five years old when he was introduced to the sport by his father and began competing at eight-years old. The decorated amateur recently signed with Golden Boy Promotions and is trained by famed trainer Joel Diaz.

RSR Readers we have a contest for the 500th subscriber to the RSR YouTube Channel. Our 500th subscriber will win a personally autographed picture from James “Quick” Tillis.

Here is the link to the RSR YouTube Channel to subscribe.

[si-contact-form form=’2′]