Two undefeated prospects will battle it out with the winner asserting himself in a deep 130-pound division.
Mandeep Jangra and Nilo Guerrero will square off Thursday night at Legends Casino Hotel in Toppenish, Wash., it was announced Monday. The 10-round bout will be a card headlined by Roy Jones, Jr. has been promoted, which will stream live globalsportsstreaming.com ($9.99, 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT).
“It’s going to be a great card on Thursday at Legends Casino Hotel,” said Jones, Jr., who trains Jangra. “I have these three great guys on the card. I love having them on this card. Jangra always brings the action and he will be fighting for (the National Boxing Association) junior lightweight) world title, which is very exciting for me.”
Jangra (10-0, 7 KOs), who is originally from Kharian, India and trains at Jones’ gym in Pensacola, Florida, last fought on May 24, knocking out Jose Sanchez in the opening round. In his previous fight 10 days before the win over Sanchez, Jangra forced the journeyman Argel Berrio to stay on his chair after round five.
Along with the fourth-round knockout victory over Reynaldo Esquivia on May 5, Jangra fought and won three fights in less than a three-week span. All three fights took place in Colombia.
The 31-year-old, who has had a successful amateur career including silver medals at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, is keen to test himself against Guerrero but is confident he has the tools to win on Thursday night.
“This is a great opportunity for me and I am blessed to be here,” Jangra said. “I’ve always dreamed of it. All thanks to God that I feel so proud to represent my country India for a world title. I want to be an inspiration to the next generation of Indian boxers. They can learn from my hard work and dedication. India is an emerging powerhouse for professional boxing.”
“Roy is a good mentor. I am so blessed that he gave me a chance to work with him. Learning from the champion is the best way to succeed. One of the best things I learned from Roy is box fishing, which means how to make room for the counter, and I love it.”
Guerrero (9-0, 7 KOs), who is originally from Managua, Nicaragua and now lives and trains in Coachella, California, defeated Diuhl Olguin by unanimous decision in his last fight on June 15th. The win over Olguin came four months after Guerrero knocked out Dan Hernandez in the opening round.
Despite the lack of pedigree and being younger, the 24-year-old Guerrero believes he can be victorious over Jangra.
“I’m happy to have this opportunity and I’m motivated for this fight,” Guerrero said. “My opponent is an excellent fighter and I know it’s going to be a war. We’re both fighting to stay undefeated, but I’ll do my job and get that win no matter what. I know this will be the best fight of the night. In my mind, the goal is to come out on top, whether by decision, TKO, or knockout.”
Guerrero is promoted by Azat Torosyan.
Two more undefeated fighters trained by Jones will also see action on Thursday night.
In the co-feature, featherweight Dominique Roundtree (9-0, 6 KOs) of Augusta, Georgia will face Roberto Cantu Pena in a six-round bout.
Originally from McAllen, Texas and now living in Rio Bravo, Mexico, Cantu (4-3, 3 KOs) defeated Bryan Lagunas by split decision on July 24, snapping a two-fight losing streak.
With a catch weight of 151 pounds, undefeated Keon Papillon (9-0-1, 6 KOs) will square off against journeyman Rondale Hubbert (16-32-3, 10 KOs) of Duluth, Minnesota in a six-round bout .
Papillon is trained by and is the son of former world title challenger Jason Papillon, who was a sparring partner of Jones.
Claudia Trejos will call the action on the stream.
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)
