By Gary Purfield
Saturday from the Woodland Community Senior Center in Woodland, CA, super featherweight contender Vicente Escobedo takes on Juan Ruiz in a ten round bout. Escobedo, who will be fighting in his hometown, has been a contender at super featherweight and lightweight for some time and recently has been mentioned to be in the running to get a crack at Adrien Broner’s super featherweight title later this year.
Escobedo (25-3, 15 KOs) turned pro with high expectations, but has not been able to live up to those expectations thus far. He has been a strong contender, but has lost his biggest fights to date. He started with nine wins as a pro but then lost to Daniel Jimenez by split decision in 2008. Escobedo won twelve straight including a win over Cristian Favela and long faded Kevin Kelley, but then lost to Michael Katsidis in a bid for the vacant WBO title. Escobedo also suffered a wide unanimous decision loss to Robert Guerrero in late 2010.
Since that time, Escobedo has won three straight over Walter Estrada, Rocky Juarez, and Lonnie Smith. Escobedo can continue his winning Saturday and set himself up for a second title opportunity with a win over Ruiz.
Ruiz (23-9, 7 KOs) doesn’t look to present much more than a tune-up considering his recent record. He has lost his last four straight and seven of his last eight including bouts to Tomas Villa, Bernabe Concepcion, Antonio Escalante, and in his last fight, to undefeated Jose Miguel Aguiniga. Ruiz should at least give Escobedo rounds as he has never been stopped.
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