By Ryan Burton

Super featherweight prospect Andy "El Tiburon" Vences (18-0) returns to the ring for the second time in 2017 when he faces Eliseo Cruz Sesma(11-3-1) on the Vasyl Lomachenko-Miguel Marriaga undercard in Los Angeles, California. Ray Beltran faces Bryan Vasquez in the televised co-feature bout.

Vences long time manager Herb Stone passed away in May and this will be the Bay Area product's first fight without Stone in his corner. Stone had managed several Northern California fighters including flyweight contender Bruno Escalante.

"It was so unexpected and so all of a sudden. As far as my focus - I am really focused and motivated to bring his name in the ring knowing that he brought me up from nothing and turned me into something back when I didn't know nobody. It is an honor to move on and make him proud. I feel like every fight from here on is going to be for him," Vences told BoxingScene.com.

"It has always been us in the ring and this will be the first fight where he is not there but I am sure he will be in my corner somewhere from up above.  It is very emotional and when you have someone - whether it is your dad, your mom, your grandpa, pass away - it kind of just humbles you in a way where you look at things different and you learn to appreciate people more. A lot of people live day to day and get home and are tired but you learn that it is the little things that matter and you have to enjoy them. It just made me realize a lot of things."

The 26-year-old was originally going to face Reynaldo Blanco who pulled out of the fight just over a week ago.  Vences is on the cusp of a shot at a title and said that he will dedicate his world championship to the man that gave him a shot in the pro ranks.

"Every fight from here on out will be dedicated to him. It was always his dream for us to make it to the top and it was always a promise I would tell him that, 'we are going straight to the top'. Every fight from here to my world title is going to be for him. I just can't wait to win a world title and thank him and let him know that we did it," said Vences.

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