Bantamweights Manny “Gucci Manny” Flores and Jorge “Zurdo” Leyva will fight in the scheduled 10-round main event of a seven-bout card at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino Thursday evening.
Flores (19-1, 15 KOs) will be fighting for the first time since Oct. 24, when he knocked out Victor Emmanuel Olivo, 1:50 into the first round at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, his fourth consecutive knockout after suffering the only loss of his professional career, to Walter Santibanes, in a 10-round unanimous decision June 8, 2023, at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino.
The 26-year-old Flores was born in Rancho Mirage and lives in Coachella. He has fought at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino seven times, including five of his last six bouts. He has also fought six times in Mexico, four times in San Bernardino County and once each in Las Vegas, El Paso and Georgia.
“I’m back in my hometown and ready to put on another show,” Flores said. “I am ready to separate myself from the rest of the division and continue my quest to become the best.”
Leyva (18-3, 13 KOs), a 23-year-old southpaw from La Paza, Mexico, won the vacant World Boxing Council FECOMBOX bantamweight championship with a sixth-round technical knockout of Lamberto Macias Dec. 9, 2023, in La Paz.
FECOMBOX is the Spanish abbreviation for the Federation of Professional Boxing Commissions of the Mexican Republic.
Leyva next lost a 10-round split decision to Jose Alberto Arias for the World Boxing Organization Latino super bantamweight title March 23, 2024, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, his first fight outside of Mexico.
Thursday’s bout will be his second since then and first in the United States. He won a 10-round unanimous decision over David Carmona in La Paz on June 15.
“I will be mentally and physically ready for a war,” Leyva said. “Manuel Flores is a great and tough fighter. However, I am up for the challenge. I know the importance of this fight. A win over Flores will be huge and will open up many great opportunities for me.”
Flores weighed in Wednesday at the 118-pound bantamweight limit, Leyva at 117.2.
Doors to the Special Events Center will open at 5 p.m. The first two bouts will be streamed on Golden Boy Promotions’ YouTube page, www.youtube.com/@GoldenBoyBoxing. The DAZN broadcast will begin at 6 p.m.
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