Joselito Velazquez showed that one loss does not define his career.
Velazquez will face Andres Campos tonight at the Poliforum in Velazquez’s adopted hometown of Cancun, Mexico. The 10-round junior bantamweight bout will be televised throughout Mexico on Canal 5 and TUDN (10 p.m. Mexico City time).
At Thursday’s weigh-in, both Velazquez and Campos weighed in at 115 pounds.
The Velazquez-Campos fight is a compelling clash between once beaten fighters who have bounced back from defeat earlier in their respective careers. Frank Espinoza, who manages Velazquez, believes an impressive win over a former world title challenger in Campos could lead to a world title shot for Velazquez.
“We’re looking forward to another good performance,” Espinoza told The Ring Thursday afternoon, “(and it) will put (Velazquez) on the path for a world title in the near future.”
Originally from Oaxaca, Mexico, Velazquez (19-1-1, 12 KOs) last fought on March 22, dropping Luis Araujo Arellano once en route to a unanimous decision victory. In his previous fight on November 24, Velazquez defeated Pablo Carrillo by decision over 10 one-sided rounds.
Both wins over Arrellano and Carrillo took place in Cancun.
The 31-year-old has won his last four fights since a unanimous decision loss to former world titleholder Cristofer Rosales.
Velazquez has been trained for the past few years by Eddy Reynoso, who also trains Ring super middleweight champion and unified world titleholder Canelo Alvarez. Velazquez represented Mexico at the 2016 Olympics.
Campos (16-1-1, 5 KOs), who lives in Santiago, Chile, fought a majority decision against Edinson Martinez in his last fight on May 28.
The 28-year-old challenged then-IBF world flyweight titleholder Sunny Edwards on June 10 last year and lost by unanimous decision. Campos returned to action three months later, dropping Ben Ligas before winning by knockout in round seven.
Campos is managed by Tony Tolj, who is based out of Australia.
In the co-main event, undefeated junior featherweight Celex Castro Olivares (17-0, 13 KOs), who also resides in Cancun, will take on Argentina’s Ckari Cani Mansilla (17-3, 12 KOs) in a 10-round bout. settle .
Preliminary action will air live on Canal 5 and TUDN at 9 p.m. on a card promoted by Cancun Boxing, Oswaldo Kuchle and Boxing Time Promotions.
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)
