Jairo Noriega and Azael Villar clash with a junior flyweight title shot in sight

Lots is on the road for tonight’s conflict between Azael Villar and Jairo Noriega.

Villar and Noriega will sq. off at On line casino Pharaohs in Managua, Nicaragua. The 12-round bout will headline an All Star Boxing card that may stream dwell on ESPN+ in the US and on ESPN Knockout all through Latin America (9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT).

At Thursday’s weigh-in, Villar weighed in at 107 kilos. Noriega got here in at 107.2 kilos.

The Villar-Noriega combat is a compelling conflict between junior flyweight contenders. Promoter Tuto Zabala, Jr. believes the winner could possibly be in line to face one of many world titleholders within the division at a later date.

“The principle occasion is an efficient combat,” Zabala instructed The Ring Thursday morning. “Each fighters are rated by the WBC, WBO and WBA. The winner, indisputably, on the doorstep of a world title combat.”

Villar (20-2-4, 15 knockouts) defeated Ricardo Astuvilca by unanimous resolution in his final bout on December 1. In his earlier combat on August 4, Villar fought to a split-decision draw towards Gerado Zapata.

Each fights happened in his hometown of Panama Metropolis, Panama.

Previous to the Zapata combat, the 29-year-old Villar was stopped within the seventh spherical by Ayumu Hanada of Japan.

Noriega (13-0, 3 KOs), who resides in Villarreal, Spain, final fought on June 16, defeating journeyman Gerardo Larios by resolution over eight one-sided rounds. In his earlier combat in Might 2022, Noriega dropped Angel Moreno twice en path to a unanimous resolution victory in an European title bout.

The 31-year-old will probably be preventing exterior Spain for the primary time in his professional profession.

Within the co-feature, feminine junior flyweights Eveling Ortega (6-5, 2 KOs) of Managua will face Guatemala’s Yanissa Castrellon (4-1) in an eight-round bout.

Tonight’s combat between Ortega and Castrellon was a rematch of their December 1 conflict, which Castrellon gained by unanimous resolution.

In strawweight motion, Gerardo Sanchez (9-1, 5 KOs) of Honduras will sq. off towards Mexico’s Edwin Cano Hernandez (11-2-1, 2 KOs) in an eight-round bout.

Unbeaten welterweight prospect Harvin Aguirre (9-0, 6 KOs), who’s initially from Nicaragua and now resides in Panama, will face Josue Alvarado (4-1, 1 KO) of Panama in an eight-round bout.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has lined boxing in Southern California and overseas since 2000. Francisco additionally covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He might be reached at [email protected]

Comply with @FSalazarBoxing