The bout between Andres Cortes and Salvador Jimenez, along with other matchups, joins the undercard of Emanuel Navarrete vs Charly Suarez. The event takes place at Pechanga Arena in San Diego, CA, on May 10. The pair square off in a 10-rounder at junior lightweight.
Unbeaten Cortes (22-0, 12 KOs) makes his first ring appearance of the year, following two successful outings in 2024. The 27-year-old Las Vegas native defeated Abraham Nova by unanimous decision last June and stopped Bryan Chevalier in the fourth round last February.
Jimenez (14-1-1, 6 KOs) looks to rebound from his first career defeat in March, when he dropped a unanimous decision against Ryan Garner in his UK and international debut. Last year, Spain’s 29-year-old TKO’d Edinso Torres in the second round and stopped Diego Lagos in five rounds.
“I’m back and ready to show everyone why I’m still a force at junior lightweight,” Andres Cortes said. “I’m looking for a title shot this year, and it all starts on May 10 when I put on a great performance against Jimenez.”
Cortes was scheduled to fight Suarez (17-0, 9 KOs) in the co-feature to Jaime Munguia vs Erik Bazinyan last September, but was forced to withdraw due to an injury suffered in training. Suarez remained on the card, fought, dropped, and stopped Jorge Castaneda in the third round. The Filipino contender is now set to challenge Mexico’s three-weight champion Navarrete (39-2-1, 32 KOs), who makes the fourth defense of his WBO super featherweight title.
In other Navarrete vs Suarez undercard bouts
Also confirmed for the Navarrete vs Suarez undercard is a 10-round featherweight bout between Albert Gonzalez (13-0, 7 KOs) of Moreno Valley, CA and Mexico’s Jose Ivan Guardado Ortiz (16-3-1, 6 KOs). Alan Garcia (15-1, 11 KOs) of Ulysses, KS and Cristian Medina Garcia (8-2-1, 5 KOs) of Mexico meet in an eight-rounder at lightweight.
Mexico’s Sebastian Hernandez (19-0, 18 KOs) takes on Azat Hovhannisyan (21-5, 17 KOs) of Armenia in an eight-rounder at junior featherweight. Previously announced, LA’s Perla Bazaldua (1-0, 1 KO) faces Mona Ward (0-1) of Saint Louis, MO in a four-rounder at junior bantamweight.
Briana Carrera (3-0, 1 KO) of Arlington, TX and Kacey Wheeler (2-0, 2 KOs) of Alexandria, VA clash in a four-rounder at junior welterweight. Additionally, Samuel Contreras (1-0, 1 KO) of Los Angeles is back in the ring in a four-rounder at junior welterweight against an opponent to be named.
The previously announced co-feature pits Raymond Muratalla (22-0, 17 KOs) of West Covina, CA against Zaur Abdullaev (20-1, 12 KOs) in a battle for the interim IBF lightweight title. Atop the undercard, San Diego’s Giovani Santillan (33-1, 18 KOs) and Angel Beltran Villa (18-2, 11 KOs) of Mexico go head-to-head in a 10-rounder at welterweight.
The finalized lineup is expected to be confirmed shortly.