It is rare for a fighter with seven losses to be a regional draw, but that is the case for Salvador Briceno.

Briceno returns to the ring tonight (April 26) at the Gold Country Casino, Oroville, Calif., as he takes on Jonathan Medina in a six-round welterweight bout – promoted by Uppercut Promotions.

Briceno (18-7-1, 11 KOs) originally from Guadalajara, Mexico relocated to Woodland, Calif. in 2021. He drove the 40 minutes to Roseville, Calif., to train with Jose Morales, who has developed a boxing academy (Jose Morales Boxing Academy). Morales, a good amateur fighter who now runs a successful business, was unsure at first working with Briceno. 

When he first walked through his gym doors, he never thought he’d be cornering him against Medina (20-2, 16 KOs) this coming Friday in Northern California. 

Let alone that Briceno would be selling 150-200 tickets for a local fight with a record that isn’t undefeated. 

“I didn’t want to train him at first,” Morales told BoxingScene. “I run a business and have an amateur program that requires a lot of my time but then I saw his work ethic and he won me over.”

Briceno’s resume is impressive although it lacks the marquee win. He has lost to a who’s who of dignified fighters, including unanimous decisions to Lindolfo Delgado, Arnold Barboza Jr., Josue Vargas, and Gabriel Flores Jr. In November of last year, he managed a draw with Luis Lopez on a CBN Promotions card. 

Recently, Briceno returned on the first card promoted by G-Squad Entertainment. He defeated veteran Cameron Krael and now Briceno hopes to get two big wins on the regional scene for a big opportunity in the future and it would be one that his coach believes that he is now ready for.

“He never had someone who was invested in him,” explained Morales. “Now he has a team that gets him the right sparring, gets him the right training, helps him with his diet. It sounds boring, it is what everyone always says, but it is what you have to do. He has that now.”

Briceno is looking at nearly a mirror image of himself in his opponent. Medina lost to Levan Ghvamichava nearly 10 years ago, took five years off from the sport and returned before the pandemic. His last fight was two-and-a-half years ago and he lost in Mexico to Eduardo Leonel Rodriguez via a first-round stoppage. 

“We are looking to get a win in a big fight, not [just] get a big fight,” said Morales. “That doesn’t happen if we don’t win this week. We want to show the world that he is far from just a club fighter, that he can compete and win at the world-class level.”

Lucas Ketelle is a proud member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and author of ‘Inside The Ropes of Boxing’ (available on Amazon). Contact him on X @LukieBoxing