Costa Rica’s David Jimenez will return home for his next fight.
Jiménez, rated at number 9 by The Ring at junior bantamweightt, will put his WBA interim belt (not recognized by The Ring) on ​​the line against Keyvin Lara on Saturday, December 7 at Polideportivo de Cartago, Cartago, Costa Rica.
“I’m incredibly excited to fight in my home country and in my hometown Cartago,” Jimenez (16-1, 11 knockouts) told The Ring through his manager/promoter Ernesto Sandoval. “I carry the responsibilities of my country, Costa Rica, but it does not distract me. On the contrary, it motivates me to work even harder.
“I will do my training camp in Las Vegas, where I expect to raise my level further and be ready for this commitment.”
“Medallita” hopes this will lead to something even bigger in the future.
“For now I’m focused on this fight, but my eyes are on the current (IBF/WBA) world champion (Fernando Martinez) in my division,” he said. “I hope he will have the courage to give me the opportunity to face him.”
The Fight Club Promotions event will also see junior middleweight Eduardo Sanchez (9-1-2, 5 KOs) and female bantamweight Juliana Rodriguez (8-0, 5 KOs) take to the ring.
Jimenez fought internationally for Costa Rica as an amateur before turning professional in early 2019. The 32-year-old could move relatively quickly. However, it was his victory over Ricardo Sandoval (MD 12) in a WBA title eliminator, in which he scored an 11th round knockout that made the difference, for which he received praise.
He lost to Artem Dalakian (UD 12) for the WBA 112-pound title, but has since returned to winning ways with four wins, most notably against the usually stout Rosendo Hugo Guarneros (RTD 7) and, most recently, moving up to 115- pounds and beat John Ramirez (UD 12) for the interim WBA title.
Lara (32-6-1, 12 KOs) turned professional in 2013. Although the Nicaraguan lost his debut and drew his second fight, he rattled off 18 straight wins to earn a shot at then-WBA 112-pound belt holder Kazuta Ioka. Although he gave a good account of himself, he was stopped in the 11th round.
After bouncing back, Lara went to South Africa, where he lost to Yanga Sigqibo (UD 10). The 30-year-old dropped a tight fight with Keiver Fernandez (SD 9) and also lost to Norbelto Jimenez (UD 10) and Salvador Juarez (SD 8), but bounced back with a win.
Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at (email protected).
