By Mario Ortega Jr. –
Gabriel Flores Jr., once one of the most highly regarded lightweight prospects in all of the sport, returns home to Stockton, California on Saturday night, as he and his father Gabriel Sr. have taken the step of launching new promotional entity G-Squad Entertainment as they chart a path for the next stage of their careers. Flores will take on unbeaten Julian Rodarte for the vacant WBA Continental USA lightweight title in the ten-round main event of a five-bout card at the Adventist Health Arena. Fighters weighed-in Friday at the host venue.
Flores (22-2, 8 KOs) of Stockton was last in the ring at this same venue last May, making short work of veteran journeyman Derrick Murray as he helped boost ticket sales for the Top Rank-promoted event. Now with more control than ever over his own career, Flores will hope a victory over Rodarte, while claiming a regional title in the process, will put his name back in the mix at 135-pounds. Flores weighed-in just under the lightweight limit at 134.4-pounds on Friday.
“This is going to be a great performance,” Flores told 15rounds.com on Friday. “I am going to have another memorable night. Get your tickets now!”
Rodarte (19-0-2, 8 KOs) of Downey, California sports a similarly glossy record, but a comparison of resumes will show that Flores represents a significant step-up in competition for the out-of-town challenger. Rodarte last fought in August where he was held to a draw by a fighter that had dropped his previous seven contests. Rodarte, fighting in California for the first time since 2019, scaled 134.8-pounds at Friday’s weigh-in.
With his famous father of the same name in his corner, Fernando Vargas Jr. (13-0, 12 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nevada by way of Oxnard, California will meet perhaps his toughest foe to date in veteran Brad Solomon (29-6, 9 KOs) of Douglasville, Georgia by way of Lafayette, Louisiana in a six-round light middleweight bout. Vargas’ knockout streak ended two fights back as he was finally taken the six-round distance last August, before scoring his twelfth knockout over Wilfrido Buelvas in November. Solomon, a 16-year professional veteran, did not fight in 2023, last seeing ring action in December of 2022 in a failed bid at a regional title. Vargas scaled 152.8-pounds Friday, while Solomon made 151.2.
Making his professional debut on Saturday, well-regarded Lorenzo Powell of Sacramento, California will take on Jose Valenzuela Alvarado (2-12-1, 1 KO) of Puebla, Puebla, Mexico in a four-round lightweight bout. Powell, who had been slated to turn professional last November before the event was canceled due to weather forecasts, scaled 134-pounds. Valenzuela Alvardo came in heavy at 136.2-pounds at the weigh-in.
Two veteran gatekeepers meet in a scheduled eight-round welterweight bout, as Salvador Briceno (17-7-1, 11 KOs) of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico takes on Cameron Krael (20-31-3, 7 KOs) of Las Vegas. Briceno, who took Gabriel Flores Jr. the eight-round distance back in 2019, weighed-in at 146.4-pounds. Krael, who managed to fight eight times last year and is somehow still just 30-years-old, came in at 147.6-pounds.
Representing the third generation of his vast fighting family, Jessie James Guerrero (3-0-2, 3 KOs) of Salinas, California returns to the ring for the first time in almost a year, as he takes on Jose Rodriguez Montemayor (7-8, 6 KOs) of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin by way of Piedras Negras, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Mexico in a six-round super flyweight bout. Guerrero, expecting his first child to be born this Father’s Day, will be fighting on his pregnant girlfriend Ariel’s birthday on Saturday night. Montemayor, originally slated to meet Jesus Haro, came in heavy at 115.4-pounds, while Guerrero made 113.4-pounds.
Tickets for the event, promoted by G-Squad Entertainment and to be streamed live by FightHub TV, are available online at Ticketmaster.com
Quick Weigh-in Results:
WBA Continental USA Lightweight Championship, 10 Rounds
Flores Jr. 134.4
Rodarte 134.8
Light middleweights, 6 Rounds
Vargas Jr. 152.8
Solomon 151.2
Lightweights, 4 Rounds
Powell 134
Valenzuela Alvarado 136.2
Welterweights, 8 Rounds
Briceno 146.4
Krael 147.6
Super flyweights, 6 Rounds
Guerrero 113.4
Rodriguez Montemayor 115.4
Photo by Julio Sanchez/G-Squad Entertainment
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected]
