Pablo Rubio, JR – Rafael Gramajo Are Set to Collide – Boxing News
By Anthony “Stacks” Saldaña
This Friday at the Belasco Theater in downtown Los Angeles two local fan favorites are set to collide in the co-main event of what should be an all action war, when Pablo “The Shark” Rubio, JR., 6-0, 3 KO’s from Whittier, California takes on Rafael “El Alikin”Gramajo, 8-1, 2 KO’s. Gramajo who is originally from Garden City, Kansas, and has previously trained with former world champions Victor Ortiz and Brandon Rios now lives in Los Angeles and trains out of the Westside Boxing Gym. In 2012 Gramajo took a three year layoff from boxing before returning to the sport in 2015 and fighting five times.
Gramajo is on a six fight winning streak and looking to extend that Friday against Rubio, JR. Pablo and his team recently returned home from New York as they spent several weeks as sparring partners with the newly crowned featherweight champion Carl “The Jackal” Frampton. I recently spoke to Rubio, JR. and he stated he’s “ready for Gramajo” he said training with Carl was a great experience and Frampton had an amazing team. Rubio, JR. grew up fighting in the Los Angeles area and has also spared with Roman “Chocolatitio” Gonzalez, Abner Mares and Leo Santa Cruz. At 19, Friday night will be the toughest test to date for the young Rubio, JR. Fans in attendance at the Belasco Friday night should expect to get their monies worth when these two young super bantamweight prospects battle it out.
In the main event Carlos “The Solution” Morales,13-1-3, 6 KO’s takes on tough Cuban Luis “La Estrella” Franco,14-1-1, 9 KO’s in a 10-round Junior featherweight bout. Morales who had a loss and three draws in his first four fights has looked explosive since that rough start winning 13 fights in a row. Now Morales looks to keep his win streak alive against Franco. Franco has fought several tough opponents including a draw vs. Javier Fortuna and a disqulifacation win over Eric Hunter.
Also On the August 5th undercard are the Gonzalez brothers from Glendora, California. First Jousce Gonzalez, 1-0, 1 KO will fight his second professional bout against David Montes,11-10, 8 KO’s of Las Cruces, New Mexico in a 4 round super featherweight bout. Jousce is part of a fighting family that includes his brothers, undefeated professional Joet Gonzalez, younger brother and amateur standout Jonjairo, and sister who was 2016 Olympic hopeful, Jajaira, one of the top amateurs in the country.
Then to open up the televised portion of the fight card is Joet Gonzalez, 13-0, 6 KO’s as he takes on seasoned fighter Sergio “Micky” Lopez, 19-11-1, 12 KO’s of Los Angeles in a 10-round featherweight bout. Joet Gonzalez has so far taken on the likes of Marcos “No Money” Rios, Miguel “Yaqui” Tamayo, and Jose Angel “Pepe” Beranza in his undefeated boxing career. Joet looks to impress the crowd and stay undefeated this Friday vs. Lopez.
Also on the card is undefeated prospect Francisco Esparza, 3-0. Esparza trains with former World Champion and future boxing Hall of Famer “El Feroz” Fernando Vargas. Esparza will be looking for his 4th professional win in a featherweight match scheduled for 4 rounds against a fighter TBA. Esparza made his professional debut against Carlos Gonzalez with a victory via unanimous decision on September 18th , 2015 and quickly followed that up with another additional decision victories over Jose Rodriguez on November 20th and Antonio Martinez in February of 2016. Set to come back to the Belasco Theater for the third time, Esparza will be looking to impress the Los Angeles fans that have supported him from his first fight at the venue.
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