Saturday’s clash between junior welterweights Jose Zepeda and Josue Vargas is not the only fight in the Mexico-Puerto Rico rivalry taking place this weekend.

Lightweight Victor Betancourt will square off against Miguel Angel Marrero tonight, Friday Oct. 29 at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Florida. The 10-round bout will headline a ‘Boxeo Telemundo’ telecast (Telemundo, 12 a.m. ET/ 9 p.m. PT).

At Thursday’s weigh-in, Betancourt weighed in at 134 pounds. Marrero weighed 135 pounds.

Tonight’s clash has a lot of significance. A victory could propel the winner into contender status, but also bragging rights are in play as Betancourt-Marrero is another chapter in the ongoing rivalry between Mexico and Puerto Rico.

‘Boxeo Telemundo’ is also celebrating its 20th anniversary and promoter Tuto Zabala, Jr. believes tonight’s clash between Betancourt and Marrero could live up to the expectations of another Mexico-Puerto Rico in former world titleholder Oscar Larios and Angel Chacon.

“(Tonight) is another classic that the city of Kissimmee is known for,” Zabala told The Ring Thursday morning. “Since our start in 2001 (on Telemundo) with the fight between Larios and Chacon, we have had great fights between Mexico and Puerto Rico. We expect the same (with tonight’s fight).”

Betancourt (27-3, 14 KOs), who resides in Mexicali, Mexico, stopped journeyman Ulises Perez Torres in round 3 of his last bout on July 17. The victory took place almost a year after losing by knockout to Panama’s Jaime Arboleda, a fight that took place on an FS1 telecast.

The 30-year-old Betancourt had won his previous four bouts prior to the loss to Arboleda.

Aside from making his United States debut against Betancourt, Marrero (9-1-2, 4 KOs) will be returning to action tonight for the first time in over two years. That fight was a one-sided win over journeyman Luis Rivera.

The win over Rivera took place over a year after suffering the only loss of his career at the hands of Alberto Mercado.

Also in action, unbeaten light heavyweight contender Fenlong Meng (16-0, 10 KOs) of China will face Panama’s Israel Duffus (20-6, 17 KOs) in a 10-round bout.

In a clash of unbeaten bantamweights, Gianny Garcia of Miami by way of Cuba will square off against Savion Morales in a six-round bout. Both enter the fight with identical records of 3-0, 3 KOs.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing