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Diego De La Hoya to face Alan Luques in Argentina on Saturday

Junior featherweight Diego De La Hoya. Photo credit: Hogan Photos
Fighters Network
28
Jun

Unbeaten junior featherweight contender Diego De La Hoya has grown accustomed to fighting in large venues or a few hours from his hometown.

While he has fought in front of partisan crowds, he will likely face a more hostile crowd as he will fight abroad in his next bout.

De La Hoya will travel thousands of miles to Argentina to face Alan Luques Saturday night at the Parque La Pedrera in the city of San Luis, Golden Boy Promotions announced Tuesday afternoon.

The 10-round bout will be a co-promotion between Golden Boy and Arana Box and will air live in Argentina.



De La Hoya (18-0, 9 knockouts) last fought on May 18, winning a 10-round unanimous decision over Erik Ruiz in Tucson, Arizona, not far from his hometown of Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico. His most notable bout, thus far, is a 10-round unanimous decision over Luis Orlando Del Valle on Sept. 17 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The 22-year-old De La Hoya, who is managed by Joel De La Hoya, is ranked No. 5 at 122 pounds by the WBC and No. 6 by the IBF. He is currently ranked number six by THE RING Magazine.

De La Hoya hopes an impressive performance will translate to gaining more fans, especially in South America, in his first professional bout outside of the United States.

“I’m excited to be fighting in San Luis, Argentina,” said De La Hoya. “The Argentinian fans have been very supportive of my career on social media and I can’t wait to put on a great show for them in person.”

Luques (21-6, 9 KOs) won a one-sided six-round decision over Pedro Prieto in his most recent bout on May 27. The 26-year-old from Cordoba, Argentina has won five of his last seven bouts.

“It’s a great opportunity for me to fight with such a skyrocketing figure like Diego De La Hoya,” said Luques, who has never fought outside of Argentina. “I will prepare like never before to take advantage of the opportunity before me. I will give all of me.”

Oscar De La Hoya, the older cousin and promoter of Diego, will be sitting ringside as an invited guest of promoter Mario Arana.

“I know it, and Diego knows it – every fighter wants to beat a De La Hoya,” said the CEO and chairman of Golden Boy Promotions. “It takes hunger and passion for boxing that motivates him to travel across the world to demonstrate he just won’t be messed with. Diego will come home with a victory and new Argentinian fans will be impressed by his Mexican speed and power.”

Also on the card, hard-hitting lightweight Fidel Ruiz Diaz (11-0, 9 KOs) will face Fabian Orozco (27-6-3, 9 KOs) in a 12-round bout.

 

 
Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV.com 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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