FIGHT WEEK
Arnold Barboza Jr. and Danielito Zorrilla will meet in a battle of unbeaten 140-pound contenders in Temecula, California.
ARNOLD BARBOZA JR. (26-0, 10 KOS) VS. DANIELITO ZORRILLA (16-0, 12 KOS)
- Date: Friday, July 15
- Time: 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT (main event later in show)
- Where: Pechanga Resort & Casino, Temecula, California
- TV/Stream: ESPN, ESPN+
- Division: Junior welterweight (140 pounds)
- Weigh-in results: Barboza 139.6, Zorrilla 139.6
- Rounds: 10
- At stake: No major titles
- Pound-for-pound ranking: None
- Odds: NA
- Also on the card: Raymond Muratalla vs. Jair Valtierra, lightweights; Richard Torrez Jr. vs. Roberto Zavala Jr., heavyweights
- Prediction: Barboza UD
- Background: Barboza, ranked by two of the four major sanctioning bodies, has set his sights on the biggest names in the lightweight division but has yet to get his big fight. In the meantime, he’ll face the relatively unknown, but capable Zorrilla. Barboza is a good, experienced boxer with limited punching power. The 30-year-old from the Los Angeles area has been beating solid opponents for four or five years, including a unanimous decision victory over Antonio Moran last August. He said he hasn’t fought since then because he was holding out for a big fight but has to settle for Zorrilla for now. The 28-year-old Puerto Rican is no pushover. He too is a proficient boxer – the result of a successful amateur career – and he can punch, as he demonstrated by stopping veteran Pablo Cesar Cano in two rounds last September. Zorrilla hasn’t fought since that fight.