Hector Zapari knows a thing or two about moving a fighter towards becoming a contender. He did so with former WBO World super middleweight titleholder Gilberto Ramirez and he is confident he can move unbeaten junior featherweight Jesus Arechiga in that direction.

Arechiga returns to action tonight against David Reyes Cota at the Gimnasio German Evers in his hometown of Mazatlan, Mexico. The 10-round bout will headline a Zapari Boxing Promotions card.

Zapari worked with Ramirez, who also resides in Mazatlan, from his days as a prospect until becoming a world titleholder at 168 pounds. Zapari and Ramirez, who was also promoted by Top Rank, amicably split.

The state of Sinaloa, which includes Los Mochis and Culiacan, are a hotbed of boxing, along with Mazatlan. Zapari has promoted cards in recent years featuring local talent, including Arechiga.

The 22-year-old (16-0, 12 knockouts) last fought on April 1, knocking out Jose Valdes Bernal in the fourth round. Arechiga has shown power and aggression in recent fights, having six of his last eight opponents. 

Arechiga will take a step up in opposition as he squares off against Reyes, who resides in Ciudad Obregon, Mexico.

Reyes (24-8-1, 12 KOs) last fought on April 9, losing by knockout to top prospect Alan Picasso. The 27-year-old has lost three of his four fights, but that lone win did come against once-beaten Jesus Delgado on October 23. Another notable loss on the Reyes ledger is a decision defeat to Melvin Lopez in May 2019.

In the co-feature, Angel Ruiz will square off against Jesus Pina Najera of Mexico City in an eight-round junior middleweight bout. 

Ruiz (17-2, 12 KOs), who was born and raised in Culiacan and now resides in Los Angeles, California, lost by unanimous decision to unbeaten welterweight contender Giovani Santillan in his last bout on October 15. In his previous fight on April 22 of last year, Ruiz rallied to drop Bobirzhan Mominov twice en route to a unanimous decision victory.

The 24-year-old southpaw has lost two of his last three bouts.

Pina (22-5, 17 KOs) knocked out Francisco Rubio Machado in his last bout on October 30. The win over Rubio snapped a four-fight losing streak, which included losses to unbeaten super middleweight Christian Mbilli, Carlos Molina, Brandon Cook, and prospect Yoelvis Gomez. 

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