Fringe junior lightweight contender Andy Vences will face Luis Alberto Lopez on July 7, manager Peter Kahn told The Ring Tuesday. The 10-round bout will take place at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, and will air live on ESPN (8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT).

The clash between Vences (23-1-1, 12 knockouts) and Lopez is a crossroads bout, placing the winner in title contention against a contender or world titleholder in a very deep division.

Vences, who resides in San Jose, California, defeated Mark Bernaldez of the Philippines by unanimous decision in his last bout on October 26. Before that, Vences suffered his first pro defeat, losing to unbeaten Albert Bell by 10-round unanimous decision on June 15.

Vences’ most notable bout came against Erick De Leon in a clash of unbeaten prospects in March 2018, which ended in a majority-decision draw.

The 29-year-old recently signed a management deal with Kahn, who also manages lightweight contenders Emmanuel Tagoe and George Kambosos Jr., welterweight Chris van Heerden, unbeaten light heavyweight Junior Younan, and welterweight prospect Xander Zayas.

Lopez (20-2, 11 KOs) stopped hard-hitting prospect Cristian Baez of Venezuela in his last bout on December 14, 2019, in his hometown of Mexicali, Mexico.

Since losing by unanimous decision to unbeaten featherweight Ruben Villa in May 2019, the 26-year-old has won his last three bouts by knockout. The loss to Villa snapped a string of five-consecutive victories.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring 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. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @FSalazarBoxing.

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