By Steve Kim

On Friday night from the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California, lightweights Petr Petrov (37-4-2, 17KOs) and Michael Perez (24-1-2, 11KOs) go at it in a scheduled twelve-rounder.

It figures to be a fan-friendly affair. The two fighters made weight on Thursday, with Perez coming in at 135-pounds and Petrov at 134.

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"I think the styles match up very well," said Golden Boy Promotions, head matchmaker, Robert Diaz. "Petrov's very aggressive, in strong condition. We saw that against (Marvin)Quintero earlier in the year. It was a fight I thought Marvin had all the tools to win and he was on his way to winning but Petrov showed his resistance, his conditioning and his will to win."

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On May 6th Petrov defeated Quintero in six rounds to capture the NABF crown. Now, he faces another Golden Boy boxer.

"I think Perez has the talent to out-box him if he's disciplined and sticks to the game plan to make it easy,"said Diaz."The thing with Mikey is he sometimes forgets the game plan and likes to go to war every time. It makes for exciting fights but I tell him,'just get the win and look pretty next time.'"

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There is a lot at stake here, the winner gets the winner of the rematch between WBA belt-holder, Jorge Linares and Anthony Crolla, who put on a solid fight last weekend in Manchester, England.

"The winner on Friday becomes the mandatory of the WBA,"stated Diaz.

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.