Emilio Sanchez will attempt to bounce back from the first defeat of his career on Friday when he faces former contender Christopher Martin at the Belasco Theatre in Los Angeles.

The eight-round featherweight bout will air live on Estrella TV (10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT).

At Thursday’s weigh-in, Sanchez tipped the scale at 125.8 pounds. Martin weighed in at 125.8.

Sanchez (16-1, 11 knockouts) had built an unbeaten record defeating modest opposition. In March, the Los Angeles native was expected to make quick work of Eugene Lagos, who entered the bout having lost three of his previous four bouts. Instead, Lagos caught Sanchez early in the second with a right cross, dropping him flat onto his back. The fight was stopped immediately.

Following the loss Sanchez decided to move up and campaign at featherweight.

Martin (30-10-3, 10 KOs) could potentially give Sanchez a test with his experience despite having lost seven of his last nine bouts. Last March, the former junior featherweight contender scored a third-round knockout of Daniel Franco, who entered that bout unbeaten.

On the flipside, Martin was inactive for 11 months prior to be being widely outpointed by the unbeaten Cobia Breedy in May.

In the co-feature, lightweight Hector Tanajara Jr. will square off against Emmanuel Morales in an eight-round bout.

Tanajara (14-0, 5 KOs) scored an eight-round unanimous decision over Roger Gutierrez of Venezuela in June. Morales (7-2, 4 KOs), who resides in Cidra, Puerto Rico, has split his last four bouts.

Opening the Estrella TV telecast will be a four-round junior welterweight bout between Raymond Muratalla (4-0, 3 KOs) and France’s Guillaume Lorenzo (2-1).

RingTV.com and EstrellaTV.com will begin streaming the five-bout Golden Boy Promotions card in its entirety, beginning at 9:05 p.m. ET/ 6:05 p.m. PT.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV.com since October 2013. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing

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