Weigh-in Alert: Jose Salas vs. Florentino Hernandez and undercard in Tijuana
Jose Salas just wants to fight.
To Salas, it does not matter for which promoter he fights for, as long as he is active in the ring.
The unbeaten junior featherweight prospect will face Florentino Hernandez in a stay-busy fight tonight at the Auditorio Municipal in Salas’ hometown of Tijuana, Mexico. The 10-round bout will headline a co-promotion between BXSTRS, BXRumble and Big Punch Promotions (ESPN Knockout, 10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT).
At Thursday’s weigh-in, Salas weighed in at 122.8 pounds. Hernandez came in at 123.5 pounds.
Salas (13-0, 10 knockouts) last fought on the undercard of the Errol Spence-Terence Crawford welterweight unification title fight on July 29 in Las Vegas, stopping former world title challenger Aston Palicte in the fourth round. The fight took place on a Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) card.
The win over Palicte took place over three months after Salas put on an impressive performance, defeating Ghana’s Prince Dzanie by decision over 10 one-sided rounds.
The 21-year-old southpaw has stopped nine of his last 10 opponents, but what has been beneficial to his career has been fighting often, including three fights in the last six months. Those three fights, including tonight against Hernandez, took place under three different promotional banners.
Hernandez (14-8-2, 9 KOs), who resides in Monterrey, Mexico, lost to unbeaten Jesus Arechiga by unanimous decision in his last bout on November 11. The 29-year-old has lost his last four bouts, including defeats to unbeaten fighters Luis Nunez and Alan David Picasso, and former world title challenger Eduardo Baez.
Ricardo Salas (left) vs Chester Parada – Photo courtesy of Bxstrs Promotions
In the co-feature, welterweight Ricardo Salas (16-2-1, 11 KOs) will square off against Chester Parada in a 10-round bout.
Salas fought to a majority decision draw against Ruben Eduardo Aguilar in his last bout on March 5. The 24-year-old is trained by Isaac Cruz, Sr., father of lightweight contender Isaac Cruz, and promoted by Manny Pacquiao.
Parada (11-3, 7 KOs) knocked out Ricardo Diaz Nunez in his last fight on August 26. The 26-year-old defeated Isaias Lucero, who entered the fight unbeaten, by split decision in his previous fight on March 27. He has won his last seven fights.
Both Salas and Parada reside in Mexico City.
Yesica Bopp will face Graciela Cortes (4-6-2, 1 KO) of Mexico City in a junior bantamweight fight.
Yesica Bopp – Photo courtesy of Bxstrs Promotions
Bopp (37-3, 17 KOs), who has won multiple world title belts at 108 pounds, is originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina and currently resides in the Southern California city of Paramount. In her last fight on March 11 of last year, the 39-year-old lost by split decision to Yesica Nery Plata, losing the WBA Super world junior flyweight title.
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]
