By Francisco Salazar

Carlos Diaz has slowly emerged as a lightweight contender.

A resounding victory over a former world interim titleholder Saturday night could bring more significant bouts to the unbeaten fighter in 2018.

Diaz will face Emanuel Lopez at the Gimnasio Usos Multiples UdeG in his hometown of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. The 10 round bout will air on beIN Sports en Espanol (11 p.m. ET/ 8 p.m. PT).

Diaz (24-0 1 NC, 11 knockouts) has built an unbeaten record by facing and defeating modest opposition thus far. Promoter Fernando Beltran is high on Diaz and envisions 2018 as a breakthrough year for the 22-year-old.

FULL WEIGHTS FOR SATURDAY

Carlos Díaz 134 lbs, Emmanuel López 133 lbs

Irma Sánchez 111.8 lbs, Brenda Ramos 112 lbs

Joselyn Arroyo 115 lbs, Karla Valenzuela 117 lbs

Juan Carlos Sánchez 125.5 lbs, Carlos Ornelas 125.5 lbs

Jorge de Jesús García 147 lbs, Héctor Ruiz 148 lbs

In his last bout on June 24, Diaz won a unanimous decision over Sergio Puente, which also took place in Guadalajara. His last five bouts have gone the distance.

Lopez (27-7-1, 12 KOs), who resides Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico, held an interim world title bout at 130 pounds. The 27-year-old Lopez had won seven bouts in a row before losing to unbeaten Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov by decision in his last bout on July 9.

Opening the beIN Sports en Espanol broadcast will be a 10 round bout between flyweight contender Irma Sanchez (29-7-1, 8 KOs), also of Guadalajara, and Brenda Ramos (10-5, 4 KOs).

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper, RingTV.com, and FightNights.com. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing