Ray Beltran vs. Ivan Najera on May 21

Apr

Ray Beltran has not won a fight in over two-and-a-half years and Ivan Najera has lost his last two bouts.

Something will give on May 21 when Beltran and Najera will square off in an eight-round bout at the Energy Arena in Laredo, Texas.

The bout will headline a Top Rank Promotions card and will air on UniMas, beginning at 11 p.m. ET/ PT.

In his last bout on May 1 of last year, Beltran (29-7-1, 17 knockouts) scored a second round technical knockout win over Takahiro Ao. Yet, since Beltran weighed in eight ounces over the lightweight limit, he forfeited his opportunity to win the vacant WBO lightweight title that was up for grabs.

However, Beltran also tested positive for an anabolic steroid after the fight, which the Nevada State Athletic Commission overturned to a no-contest.

Prior to the Ao fight, Beltran lost a unanimous decision to Terence Crawford in Nov. of 2014. As a result, Crawford won the vacant RING lightweight championship.

Najera (16-2, 8 KOs) was stopped in round one in his last bout, on Nov. 20, by Saul Rodriguez. Five months before the Rodriguez fight, Najera was dropped twice during a one-sided 10-round decision loss to Felix Verdejo.

In the opening bout of the “Solo Boxeo Tecate” broadcast, unbeaten welterweight Alex Saucedo is scheduled to fight Claudinei Lacerda over eight scheduled rounds.

Saucedo won an eight-round unanimous decision over Clarence Booth in his last bout on Feb. 13, while Lacerda has lost his last four bouts.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV since Oct. 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.