The development of Jesus Arechiga into a contender continues tonight.

The unbeaten junior featherweight will face Mario Diaz tonight at the Gimnasio German Evers in Arechiga’s hometown of Mazatlan, Mexico. The 10-round bout will headline a card promoted by Zapari Boxing.

Arechiga (19-0, 13 knockouts) last fought on February 25 in a stay-busy fight, defeating Jesus Gomez Quintana by unanimous decision. In his previous fight on November 11, Arechiga outboxed Florentino Perez Hernandez to win by decision.

The 23-year-old scored his most notable win to date as a pro on June 24 of last year, stopping former fringe contender David Reyes Cota in the fourth round. 

Hector Zapari, who trains and represents Arechiga, believes his unbeaten charge can follow in the footsteps of the likes of Gilberto Ramirez and Pedro Guevara, both of whom were born and raised and won world title belts in their respective weight classes. 

“Jesus had a (hand) injury,” Zapari told BoxingScene Thursday morning. “It doesn’t exist anymore. We know he is going to come back better than ever for this fight. We are in negotiations for him to fight abroad, but first, we have to win this fight. He is ready. He’s ready to face contenders and for world title fights.

“Mario Diaz is a fighter who has fought in the United States and has defeated a top prospect. We expect a good fight from Arechiga. I know he’s ready, and we are focused on this fight. It’s a tough fight. Boxing is a tough sport. We are not thinking about anything else, but to win this fight.” 

Diaz (21-5, 9 KOs), who resides in Aguascalientes, Mexico, traveled to Atlanta, Georgia in October 2017, stopping former world title challenger and once-beaten Rayonta Whitfield. In his last bout on April 1, Diaz defeated Odin Juarez Baez by unanimous decision. 

The 28-year-old recently lost to Carlos Castro by unanimous decision.

Lightweight Jose Amaro Garcia (6-0-1, 4 KOs), a 19-year-old who resides in Mazatlan, will square off against Francisco Vital Macias (3-1, 3 KOs) in a six-round bout. Macias also resides in Aguascalientes. 

Another Mazatlan resident, Juan Estrada Juarez (5-0, 1 KO), will face Tijuana’s Antonio Barajas Arballo (3-7) in a four-round junior middleweight bout.

Hard-hitting lightweight Axel Velazquez Castro (6-0, 5 KOs) of Tijuana will square off against Moises Garcia Zenteno (2-2-2, 1 KO) of Puebla, Mexico in a four-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