It is a crossroads bout that could put the winner in line again for a world title bout.

For promoter Ricardo Maldonado, he is confident Rosendo Hugo Guarneros can pull off the upset win.

Guarneros will face David Jimenez, currently rated No. 6 by The Ring, tonight at the Centro de Eventos in San Jose, Costa Rica.

The 10-round bout will stream live on ESPN Knockout throughout Latin America (10 pm ET/ 7 pm PT).

At Thursday’s weigh-in, Jimenez weighed in at the flyweight limit of 112 pounds. Guarneros weighed 111.5 pounds.

Jimenez (12-1, 9 KOs), who resides in nearby Cartago, fell short in his last fight, losing by unanimous decision to WBA world flyweight titleholder Artem Dalakian on January 28. He is the favorite going into the fight against Guarneros, who has faced top opposition himself and has done well for himself in recent fights.

Guarneros traveled to France to face Loic Tejan, winning a unanimous decision over the once-beaten prospect on November 25.

In his previous fight on June 30 of last year, Guarneros lost by unanimous decision to Georges Ory with a minor world title belt on the line.

The 32-year-old Guarneros (20-5-2, 10 KOs), who resides in Amozoc, Mexico, has faced top competition in recent years, including twice defeating Tommy Frank. Guarneros lost by unanimous decision to Sunny Edwards and Adrian Curiel.

Longtime Mexico City promoter Ricardo Maldonado, who recently signed Guarneros to a promotional deal, believes his charge is trending upward and he has no doubt Guarneros will do enough to earn a win at the expense of Jimenez.

“Hugo is a young man who has improved with a lot of work,” Maldonado told The Ring earlier this week. “He has won fights in Europe and that is not easy.

“He has ranked well in his weight class and now this fight is an opportunity for him to face the world-ranked fighters and look for his opportunity to fight for a world title belt. It’s a complicated fight, but we are confident that he will come out on top.”

Prior to the Dalakian fight, Jimenez won a hard-fought decision over Ricardo Sandoval.

Also on the card, in a compelling clash between unbeaten junior middleweights, Eduardo Sanchez Ramirez (7-0-2, 4 KOs) of San Jose, Costa Rica will square off against hard-hitting Heriberto Flores Guerrero (9-0, 8 KOs) of Guadalajara, Mexico in a 10-round bout.

Jose Nuñez (14-0-2, 7 KOs) of Panama City will face Nicaragua’s Jose Manuel Perez (10-9-1, 8 KOs) in a 10-round junior lightweight bout.

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 at [email protected]

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