The official under card for the heavyweight clash between Cristobal “The Nightmare” Arreola and Manuel “El Toro” Quezada at the Citizens Business Bank Arena this Friday the 13th on ESPN2 has been announced.
Shawn Estrada (7-0, 7 KOs), a East Los Angeles native and a 2008 U.S. Olympian will go toe to toe with Alex Armenta (7-1, 6 KOs), of Los Angeles, in a four-round super middleweight bout. A rising super middleweight prospect, Estrada is coming off a first-round KO of Eddie Hunter on July 23 at Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino, Lemoore, Calif. Estrada, who has never been past the third round, has finished six of his seven opponents inside of the first round.
The victory over Hunter was a special one for Estrada, who had been sidelined with a hand injury for over a year prior to the win. Estrada, who defeated world title challenger Danny Jacobs and top middleweight prospect Fernando Guerrero in the amateurs, is looking to make up for lost time and get back on track to contending for a world title with a win on Aug. 13.
Estrada will face a tough test in the hungry, 31-year old Armenta, who is fighting for the first time in almost nine years. Armenta, who has gone the distance once in a six-round tilt, has scored four first-round KOs.
Michael Ruiz, Jr., (4-0, 1 KOs) will continue his busy schedule with his fifth professional fight in five months since turning pro in April when he takes on Matthew Salazar (1-1-1) of Albuguerque, NM. Ruiz is fresh off a dominating, six-round unanimous decision over Juan Tepoz on July 23.
Joe Goossen trained super flyweight Matt Villanueva (1-0, 1 KO), of Van Nuys, Calif., is looking to add another knockout to his small, but so far perfect record on the Arreola-Quezada undercard. His opponent, Alejo Guzman (pro debut) of Los Angeles is trained by Rudy Hernandez the brother of former world champion, Genaro Hernandez.
The final undercard bout features “Hollywood” Chad Bennett (24-4-3, 16 KOs), of New South Wales, Australia, making his U.S. debut against Gary “Southern Pride” Bergeron (11-5, 6 KOs), of New Orleans, Louisiana, in a scheduled 10-round junior welterweight bout.
Bennett, who has never fought outside of Australia, is hoping to rebound from a loss for the vacant International Boxing Organization Asia Pacific light welterweight title to Steven Wills on Dec. 2, 2009. Burgeron, who is coming off a KO victory and is on a two-fight winning streak, will be fighting for the first time on the West Coast.
Arreola (28-2, 25 KOs), of Riverside, and Quezada (29-5, 18 KOs), of Bakersfield, will battle for the WBC Mexican National Championship in the 12-round main event. In the ESPN Friday Night Fights co-feature, Josesito Lopez (26-3, 15 KOs), of Riverside, Calif., will take on Marvin Cordova, Jr., (21-1-1, 11 KOs), of La Junta, Colo., in an eight-round welterweight bout.
Tickets are on sale for the vitally important showdown between two of California’s most highly regarded heavyweight contenders. Tickets (parking included with purchase) are available at Citizens Business Bank Arena Box Office and Ticketmaster.com. For more information, please visit www.CBBankArena.com.
Doors open at 5 p.m. with the first televised fight set at 6 p.m. The main event is slated for 7:15 p.m.
