Manuel Avila to face Prosper Ankrah on July 9

Jun

Manuel “Tino” Avila (left) punches Sergio Frias during their bout at the Allan Witt Sports Center in Fairfield, Aug. 22. (Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic)

Unbeaten Manuel “Tino” Avila will face Prosper Ankrah on July 9, Golden Boy Promotions matchmaker Robert Diaz confirmed to RingTV late Tuesday afternoon.

The 10-round bout will take place at the Cache Creek Casino Resort in Brooks, California.

After making a name for himself as a junior featherweight, Avila is now competing as a featherweight. He joins a competitive stable of Golden Boy Promotions fighters who compete at 126 pounds, including Joseph Diaz Jr., Julian Ramirez, Abraham Lopez and Diego De La Hoya.

Avila (20-0, 8 knockouts), who resides in nearby Fairfield, is coming off a 10-round unanimous decision win over Rene Alvarado on April 1 in Los Angeles.

Avila’s most impressive win to date was a knockout over former WBA title challenger Yoandris Salinas on Aug. 8, his last bout as a junior featherweight.

Ankrah (24-7, 15 KOs), who is originally from Accra, Ghana and now resides in Silver Springs, Maryland, has lost his last three bouts after winning his previous four.

In his last bout on April 9, Ankrah was stopped after the fourth round by Tomas Rojas.

In the co-feature, former world title challenger Manuel Roman squares off against Javier Gallo in an eight-round junior featherweight bout.

Light heavyweight Ryan Bourland, from nearby Vacaville, faces Gilberto Rubio in a six-round bout.

Featherweight Alberto Torres squares off against Jesus Sandoval in a six-round bout.

Two more fights round out the co-promotion between Golden Boy Promotions, Don Chargin Productions and Paco Presents Boxing.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV since October of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper, BoxingScene.com and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing.