In a compelling bout, once-beaten junior middleweights Christopher Pearson and Justin DeLoach will square off on Friday night, Showtime Senior Vice President Gordon Hall told RingTV Monday morning.

The 10-round bout will take place at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California and will headline a three-bout “ShoBox: The New Generation” broadcast, beginning at 10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT.

The fight between Pearson and DeLoach is anticipated as a crossroads bout between two boxer-punchers. A loss would derail any momentum in a stacked 154-pound division.

DeLoach (16-1, with eight knockouts) has won his last six bouts since his stoppage loss to Cesar Vila two years ago. In his most recent bout on Sept. 16, DeLoach won a 10-round unanimous decision over Dominique Dolton.

DeLoach, who hails from Augusta, Georgia, last appeared on a ShoBox broadcast on March 25, scoring a vicious, highlight-reel fourth round knockout over Dillon Cook.

Pearson (14-1, 10 KOs) last fought on April 30, winning a 10-round decision over Joshua Okine. In his previous bout, the Trotwood, Ohio resident suffered the only loss of his career, when he dropped an eight-round unanimous decision to Eric Walker.

Almost two years ago, Pearson survived a knockdown to grind out an eight-round split decision over Lanardo Tyner, only to have the result reversed to a no-contest after both fighters failed a post-fight drug test.

Friday night will mark the sixth time the 26-year-old Pearson has appeared on a ShoBox broadcast.

In the co-feature, Saul Rodriguez (20-0-1, 15 KOs) will face Oscar Bravo in a 10-round junior lightweight bout.

Rodriguez, who resides in nearby Riverside, will be fighting for the first time since signing a promotional contract with Mayweather Promotions. Rodriguez, who has not fought since his knockout victory over Daulis Prescott on May 14 of last year, fought under the Top Rank Promotions banner since 2011.

Rodriguez split with trainer Robert Garcia in August.

Bravo (22-6, 10 KOs), who hails from Santiago, Chile, lost consecutive bouts to Diego Magdaleno, Mason Menard and Felix Verdejo before stopping Cesar Vergara in his most recent bout on Jan. 15 of last year.

Opening the ShoBox broadcast on Friday night will be a 10-round bout between undefeated cruiserweights Andrew Tabiti (13-0, 11 KOs) and Quantis Graves (11-0-2, 4 KOs)

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.

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