A stacked night of action will feature 2016 U.S. Olympian Karlos Balderas and 2016 Olympic Bronze medalist Misael Rodriguez entering the ringing in separate undercard matchups this Friday, December 15 from Pioneer Event Center in Lancaster, California.
The Premier Boxing Champions event is headlined by former welterweight champion Jessie Vargas taking on hard-hitting veteran Aaron Herrera in a 10-round showdown. Televised coverage on FS1 and FOX Deportes begins at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT and features a welterweight matchup between rugged veteran Diego Chaves and rising contender Jamal James, plus a super lightweight bout between John Molina Jr. and Ivan Redkach. The telecast begins with exciting welterweight Wale Omotoso (26-3, 21 KOs) facing Freddy Hernandez (34-8, 22 KOs) in a 10-round contest.
Tickets for the live event, which is promoted by TGB Promotions, begin at $30 and are on sale now. To purchase tickets visit the Pioneer Event Center’s website: www.uavpec.com. The first 300 fans who bring a toy to donate to the Holiday Toy Drive will receive a free t-shirt and five dollars off of general admission tickets. The Holiday Toy Drive will benefit the Inner Circle Foster Care & Adoption Service in Palmdale, Calif.
Balderas (2-0, 2 KO) will enter the ring for a lightweight fight against Mexico’s Carlo Flores (4-7-1, 3 KOs) while Rodriguez (5-0, 3 KOs) takes on Cuba’s Yunier Calzada (6-2-1, 1 KO) in a six round super middleweight contest.
Additional undercard action will see once-beaten prospect Marcos Hernandez (10-1, 2 KOs) taking on Oscar Mora (7-4, 6 KOs) in an eight round junior middleweight affair.
Rounding out the night of fights are a trio of prospects as unbeaten Alejandro Guerrero meets Phillip Percy in a four-round super featherweight contest, while undefeated Efren Lopez battles Tyler Marshall in a four-round junior welterweight bout and once-beaten Luis Coria faces Leonardo Torres in a junior lightweight matchup.
Fighting out of Santa Maria, California, the 21-year-old Balderas is the son of Mexican parents who immigrated to the United States to give their children a better life. Balderas had an impressive amateur career that included a 2014 Youth National Championship, four National PAL championships and an impressive run in the World Series of Boxing. His amateur career culminated in a trip to the 2016 Olympic Games where he represented the U.S. and defeated fighters from Kazakhstan and Japan before a decision loss in the quarterfinals. He made his pro debut back in April, forcing Michael Thomas to retire after one round and followed that up with a first round stoppage of Eder Fajardo in July.
At last year’s Rio games, the 23-year-old Rodriguez overcame incredible odds to win the first Olympic boxing medal for Mexico since Christian Bejerano in 2000. The Chihuahua native and his teammates had to resort to begging on public buses and streets in Mexico to raise money to compete in international boxing tournaments. He completed his road to the medal stand by defeating Egypt’s Hosam Bakr Abdin to clinch a medal in the middleweight division. Rodriguez mad his pro debut in April with a dominant decision victory over Brian True and has continued his winning ways with more victories so far in 2017.