By Francisco Salazar

Fringe junior welterweight contender Pedro Campa cannot afford a loss as he could be on the cusp of becoming a legit contender in a competitive division.

Campa will have his hands full against another puncher in Abner Lopez tonight at the Arena Sonora in his hometown of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. The fight will air live on Azteca TV throughout Mexico.

In his last bout, Campa (30-1, 20 knockouts) knocked out Adrian Jose Perez in round two on Oct. 27 in Culiacan, Mexico.

The 27-year-old Campa won his first 27 bouts as a pro, including impressive victories over Aaron Herrera, Juan Antonio Rodriguez, and former world titleholder Marvin Quintero in 2017.

In October of 2017, Campa was favored to defeat journeyman Carlos Jimenez, who pulled off the shocking upset win, knocking out Campa in round seven in Cuernavaca, south of Mexico City. Since the Jimenez fight, Campa has won his last three fights.

Campa cannot afford to overlook Lopez, who has faced and lost to the likes of Antonio Orozco, Jose Zepeda, and Alex Saucedo.

Lopez (27-9, 23 KOs), who resides in Tijuana, Mexico, has won his last two bouts by knockouts, both of which occurred in October, against mediocre opposition.

Junior middleweight Ramon Alvarez will square off against Argentina’s Jose Carlos Paz in a 10-round bout.

Alvarez (27-7-3, 16 KOs), an older brother of Canelo Alvarez, was stopped by Brandon Rios in his last bout on Nov. 17. He was unbeaten in his previous four bouts.

Paz (23-8-1, 13 KOs) last fought on Dec. 8, when he was knocked out in the opening round by hard-hitting Anthony Fowler. His previous two bouts were victories over Omar Chavez and Jorge Paez, Jr.

Flyweight prospect and 2016 Mexican Olympian Joselito Velasquez (8-0, 7 KOs) will face Angel Guevara (15-10-4, 9 KOs) in an eight-round bout.

Unbeaten flyweight Sulem Urbina (9-0, 1 KO) will square off against Aracely Palacios (10-10, 2 KOs) in an eight-round bout.

In junior middleweight action, Carlos Ocampo (23-1, 14 KOs), who was knocked out by IBF welterweight titleholder Errol Spence on June 16, will face David Bustamante (3-1, 1 KO) in an eight-round bout.

Francisco covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper, BoxingScene.com. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing