A crossroads bout and the professional debut of a U.S. Olympian will kick off the “Boxeo Telemundo” series for 2017.

Junior bantamweight contender Ricardo Rodriguez will face unbeaten Carlos Narvaez on Friday, promoter Tuto Zabala confirmed to RingTV.com.

The 10-round bout will take place at the Tony Rosa Community Center in Palm Bay, Florida. The fight will air on Telemundo, beginning at 11:35 p.m. ET/ PT.

Rodriguez (15-3, 4 knockouts) returns to the same venue he fought in last October, when he claimed a 10-round unanimous decision over David Quijano. The Mexico City resident, who has won his last three bouts, is ranked No. 4 by the WBO.

Narvaez (15-0, 6 KOs) has faced modest opposition. A resident of Manati, Puerto Rico, his most recent bout took place last August, when he scored an eight-round decision over Juan Carlos Herrera. Narvaez’s last five bouts have gone the distance.

Also taking place on the All Star Boxing card will be the first paid assignment for Antonio Vargas, who represented the U.S. in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. He meets Luis Villegas (0-3) in a four-round bantamweight bout after signing a new promotional contract with Top Rank.

Also on the card is Teofimo Lopez (1-0, 1 KO). The 2016 Honduras Olympian, who resides in nearby Davie, will face Francisco Medel (10-7, 6 KOs) of Mexico in a four-round bout at lightweight. Like Vargas, Lopez also signed a promotional contract with Top Rank.

The fights featuring Vargas and Lopez will likely air on Telemundo.

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 (Calif.) 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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