by Francisco Salazar

Fringe junior featherweight contender Isaac Zarate will square off against veteran Ramiro Robles Friday night at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, California.

The eight round bout will headline a six-bout Thompson Boxing Promotions card and will stream live on ThompsonBoxing.com and their Facebook page (11 p.m. ET/ 8 p.m. PT).

Both fighters weighed in below the contracted weight of 123 pounds. Zarate weighed in at 122.7 pounds, while Robles tipped the scale at 121.7.

Zarate (14-3-3, 2 knockouts) defeated Christian Nieto Ayala by unanimous decision over eight rounds in his last bout on Feb. 16. The southpaw Zarate, who resides in the Los Angeles suburb of San Pedro, is unbeaten in his last three bouts.

Robles (15-7-2, 9 KOs) was stopped in round five by Alberto Guevara on Apr. 21. The Queretaro, Mexico resident has split his last six bouts.

Hard-hitting lightweight Manuel Mendez of Indio, Calif. will face Mexico's Gilberto Espinoza of in an eight round bout.

Mendez tipped the scale at 136.5 pounds, while Espinoza weighed one pound less at Thursday's weigh-in.

Mendez (15-2-3, 11 KOs), who is trained by Joel Diaz, is winless in his last two bouts. Espinoza (9-0, 5 KOs) has only faced one fighter with a winning record.

Junior featherweight Brandon Valdes (10-0, 6 KOs) of Colombia will make his United States debut against Jose Naranjo (3-8-2, 1 KO) in a four round bout.

Bantamweight Saul Sanchez (8-0, 4 KOs) faces Leonardo Torres (4-10, 1 KO) in a six round bout.

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. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing .