Damian Sosa is on the cusp of becoming a legit contender at 154 pounds. He must make a statement tonight at the expense of Ivan Alvarez to continue on that path of contender status.

Sosa will face Alvarez tonight at the Auditorio Municipal in his hometown of Tijuana, Mexico. The 10-round bout will headline a nine-bout card that will stream live on FightHype TV and the Toscano Boxing Promotions YouTube page (8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT).

“We continue to test Damian ‘Samurai’ Sosa’ skills (in) each fight,” promoter Jorge Toscano told Boxingscene late Thursday night. “This fight, he will be fighting a veteran fighter. Ivan Alvarez has stated that he feels very strong and is looking for the upset.”

Sosa (22-1, 11 knockouts) last fought on December 4, also at the Auditorio Municipal in Tijuana, overcoming a knockdown in the opening round to defeat former fringe contender Juan Ruiz by unanimous decision. The win over Ruiz took place over three months after Sosa defeated once-beaten Ronald Cruz.

The 26-year-old has wins over unbeaten fighters Angel Beltran and Abel Mina, including a victory over Clay Collard. Sosa has won his last 11 fights since suffering the only loss of his career at the hands of Artem Oganesyan in March 2019.

Alvarez is winless in his last six fights, but three of those fights were draws, including his last fight on November 4 against unbeaten Jessie Wilcox in Brantford, Canada.

The 35-year-old Alvarez (31-14-4, 21 KOs), who resides in Ciudad Obregon, Mexico, has notable losses to Pedro Campa and Carlos Adames. He does have a knockout win over Jorge Paez, Jr. that occurred in April 2021.

In the co-feature, fringe junior featherweight contender Ricardo Espinoza, who also resides in Tijuana, will square off against Miguel Gonzalez in a 10-round bout.

Espinoza (28-4, 23 KOs) also fought on the December 4 card, defeating Edgar Alor by unanimous decision. He has won his last three fights since losing to former world unified titleholder Danny Roman in May 2021. 

The 25-year-old was a stable of Boxeo Telemundo telecasts a few years ago. He fought for the vacant WBO interim world bantamweight title in April 2019, losing by knockout in an all-out war against John Riel Casimero.

Gonzalez (13-6, 9 KOs), who resides in Guadalajara, Mexico, was stopped by Luis Rodriguez Ocana in the second round of his last bout on November 12. The 26-year-old has lost six of his last eight bouts.

Also on the Toscano Boxing Promotions card is an eight-round lightweight bout between Manuel Jaimes (13-1-1, 10 KOs) of Stockton, California and Tijuana’s Jorge Lagunas (11-5, 8 KOs).

Jose Luis Vazquez (10-0, 3 KOs), a 20-year-old from Tlaquepaque, Mexico, will face Jose Lugo Garcia (8-4, 6 KOs) of Tijuana in a six-round lightweight bout.

Junior welterweight Wade Jones (9-1, 7 KOs), who also resides in Stockton, will square off against Omar Olvera (3-4-2, 1 KO) of Toluca, Mexico in a six-round bout. 

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