Classy super bantamweight prospect Roman Morales returns to the ring tonight in a six-round attraction against pugnacious swinger Juan Tepoz on the undercard of the ESPN2 Friday Night Fights-televised main event of Anthony Dirrell-Kevin Engel at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa in Cabazon, California.
Morales (4-0, 3 KOs) of San Ardo, California is coming in off of a fourth-round knockout of veteran Jaime Villa in June. Morales, a highly touted amateur before turning pro this past February, has two more fights scheduled over the next 49 days, but first must make it past an aggressive and determined Tepoz tonight. Morales weighed in at 120 ¼-pounds Thursday.
Tepoz (4-5-1) of Santa Rosa, California is riding a three-fight skid, but those two fights came against prospects Richard Contreras and Michael Ruiz Jr. Though he has yet to score a knockout, Tepoz has shown flashes of power as he did manage to score an official knockdown of Ruiz in their first meeting. Tepoz scaled 120 ¼-pounds Friday.
Morales should be at the peak of his powers as a cut in the Villa fight gave him a short reprieve from the ring, not that the eager prospect asked for a break. In addition, Morales got some quality ring time with world ranked super featherweight Eloy Perez in preparation of tonight’s bout.
Perez and Morales have become fairly regular sparring partners in recent months, something that will surely benefit the San Ardo native as he progresses in his young career. Perez, perhaps only a fight or two away from challenging for a world title, has been impressed with the young upstart.
“He’s always in shape,” says Perez. “When I’ve sparred him, he’s always ready. He’s always quick and able to go the rounds. He’s real fast, real slick and he can switch. He fights with both hands. His footwork is real nice. He has skills and it seems like he is learning and working on things he needs to pick up on. He’s a good kid. He has a good amateur background. He’s good. I think he’s a young prospect coming up, he just needs to stay busy.”
Morales, promoted by Gary Shaw Productions and managed by Repo Ric, plans to stay busy should everything go as planned tonight in Cabazon. Morales will get a quick turnaround and fight Isaac Hidalgo (8-7-2, 1 KO) of Tucson, Arizona on August 5th in Santa Ynez, California and then fight on the undercard of Eloy Perez-Daniel Jimenez in Salinas on September 2nd.
Tickets for tonight’s event, promoted by Gary Shaw Productions, are available online at Ticketmaster.com.
