By: Matthew N. Becher
This Saturday, live from the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California, Golden Boy Promotions will display some of their young talent on HBO Latino. As they displayed last month, this edition of the HBO Latino card will showcase fighters from undefeated prospects to former world title challengers. Some of them right on the cusp of title shots and some possibly on the way out of the sport with one more poor outing.
The first fight on the undercard is in the Super Feather Weight division. Tevin Farmer (19-4-1 4KO) is a 25 year old southpaw fighting out of South Philly. He is currently on a twelve fight winning streak, and will be heavily tested in this next fight. Farmer lacks power and makes up for it with his speed, but his opponent is a veteran with thirty-two fights under his belt, once for the WBA feather weight title. Daulis Prescott (30-2 22KO) is a 28 year old brawler from Columbia. He is the brother of Breidis Prescott, and fights a very similar style…aggressive. Daulis has won four of his last five contests, with the one loss being to Nicholas Walters in Jamaica for the featherweight title. His last three fights have been to Elkin Zavaleta (3-24), John Merchan (who was making his pro debut), and Yohangel Romero (0-6), not necessarily the cream of the crop. Prescott will have his hands full with the speedy Farmer.
The co-main event is in the Jr. Middleweight division. Both of the pugilist in this matchup come in with fewer fights then most fighters their age would normally have. Johan Perez (20-2-1 13KO) is a 32 year old veteran from Venezuela. He is a power puncher who has been in the ring with some great fighters in the last few years. He recently fought the likes of Mauricio Herrera, Paul Spadafora, Yoshihiro Kamegai, Steve Forbes & Pablo Cesar Cano, coming away with 2 wins and 3 losses, and a lot of ring experience. His opponent Dmitry Mikhaylenko (19-0 8KO) is a 29 year old European champion from Russia who has recently rattled off wins over journeyman Sechew Powell, Ronald Cruz and Felipe De la Paz Teniente and is looking to move up in the division with a good performance on Saturday. Both fighters sport impressive records and are both looking to make a statement for future fights on HBO and possibly for titles.
The Main event is in the Super Bantam weight division against two very skilled fighters on their way up. Yoandris Salinas (21-1-2 14 KO) is a 29 year old former Cuban national champ with around 300 career amateur fights. He is from the Cuban school of boxing, using the whole ring to his advantage with great footwork and hand speed. He is 3-1-1 in his last five fights, which includes a draw against the current WBA super bantamweight champion Scott Quigg. His opponent Manuel Avila (17-0 7KO) is a 23 year old prospect.
He is a prospect in every sense of the word. This is his Step Up fight, being on HBO and the headliner against a dangerous opponent. Avila has ended 3 of his last 5 fights with knockouts, against Sergio Frias, David De La Mora and Joses Angel Cota. This will be a fight where Avila can showcase himself and move up the way young fighters do, or Salinas can use his vast experience and get back on track to another title shot, which he came so close to winning once before.