Brian “La Bala” Mendoza (20-2) will look to close out his 2022 campaign a perfect 2-0 when he takes on Jeison Rosario (23-3) on Saturday night at the Armory in Minneapolis. The bout will be part of a Showtime broadcast. 

Rosario was originally slated to face unbeaten Cuban amateur standout Yoelvis Gomez. Mendoza accepted the fight on less than 2 weeks notice when Gomez was forced to pull out of the fight with a right wrist injury. 

Mendoza, who lost a unanimous decision to top prospect Jesus Ramos last September at the same venue, has been training in the gym on a regular basis and is very confident that he will pull off the upset. 

“The world is going to see a special performance on November 5th. I couldn’t be more ready to take advantage of this moment. All I’ve been doing these past 7 months is grinding and leveling up in the gym and I’m excited to show the world what I can do!,” said Mendoza. 

“I’m physically and mentally ready for anything and nothing is stopping me from getting my hand raised Saturday night.”

This will be Mendoza’s first fight as a full fledged middleweight after camp foaming as a welterweight for most of his career. He doesn’t believe he will be at a disadvantage against the naturally bigger Rosario and believes that the extra weight will actual be a benefit. 

The 28-year-old has been working with bigger fighters in the gym and expects those training sessions to pay off on fight night. 

“It’s gonna be great fighting at 160. I’ve been putting in nonstop work with my strength and conditioning coach Tony Brady, so I’ve grown since my last fight and I’ve been holding my own with 168 pounders in sparring. I know on fight night I’ll still be the stronger fighter,” Mendoza told BoxingScene.com. 

In the main event, David Morrell defends his WBA world super middleweight fight title against Aidos Yerbossynuly. 

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