Elnur Abduraimov wants to face the best opposition possible. However, few want to step inside the ring with the unbeaten junior lightweight.
Abduraimov will face a fellow unbeaten fighter tonight, one who he hopes will challenge or give him rounds.
Daniel Garcia will face Abduraimov in the 10-round main event of the ‘Guerras Zanfer’ card that will take place at the Auditorio Municipal in Tijuana, Mexico. The fight will headline an ESPN Knockout telecast (8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT).
At Saturday’s weigh-in, Abduraimov weighed in at 128.5 pounds. Garcia weighed 128.1 pounds.
Abduraimov (10-0, 9 knockouts), who is originally from Gazalkent, Uzbekistan and now resides in Indio, California, last fought on July 28, knockout out once-beaten Leonel Moreno in the opening round. In his previous fight on May 7, Abduraimov stopped Manuel Correa in the second round.
The 28-year-old has not broken a sweat or faced adversity in the ring. Co-manager Alik Frolov raves about the talent Abduraimov possesses, but believes he is about a year or two away from fighting the best at 130 pounds. In the meantime, Frolov hopes Garcia brings out the best in Abduraimov.
“Elnur is one of our top prospects,” Frolov told BoxingScene earlier this week. “We are working towards his world title shot. He’s (a) world class fighter with 300+ (amateur) bouts. He has very good boxing skills. He’s also physically very strong and has really heavy hands, especially at 130 pounds.
“He’s facing (an) undefeated Daniel Garcia in his hometown. It’s a good step-up fight for two undefeated boxers. We’re hoping that Garcia will push Elnur to the point Elnur can actually show everyone how good he is.”
Frolov, along with Vadim Frolov, co-manage Abduraimov. They run a management company called Brigade Sports.
Garcia (14-0, 11 KOs), who resides in nearby Ensenada, stopped Miguel Angel Torres Nunez in his last bout on December 4. Torres also entered the bout unbeaten. Garcia also defeated another unbeaten fighter in Daniel Angulo Mendez on March 25 of last year.
The 20-year-old has stopped four of his last six opponents and is promoted by Zanfer Promotions.
Welterweight Dubiel Sanchez (18-1-2, 13 KOs) will square off against Brandon Perez Pena (9-3, 5 KOs) of Tlalnepantla, Mexico in a 10-round bout. Sanchez resides in Tijuana.
In a compelling clash of welterweights, Ruben Aguilar (20-0, 17 KOs) of Ensenada will face Mexico City’s Ricardo Salas Rodriguez (16-2, 11 KOs) in a 10-round bout.
Arturo Popoca (6-0-1, 4 KOs) a resident of Riverside, California, will square off against Tijuana’s Edwyn Flores (6-1, 5 KOs) in a six-round featherweight bout.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for BoxingScene since September 2012 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 by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing