By Francisco Salazar

Ricardo Quiroz believes he can become the next world titleholder to represent the boxing hotbed of Oxnard, California.

That may be easier said than done, but a victory tonight will put him on the right track.

Quiroz will square off against Jamaine Ortiz in a clash of unbeaten lightweights at the Twin River Event Center in Lincoln, Rhode Island. A regional title belt will be on the line.

The 21-year-old Quiroz (10-0, 5 knockouts) knocked out Luis Cueto in the opening round of a stay-busy fight on Dec. 1 in Tijuana, Mexico. Quiroz has displayed more aggression in recent fights, having knocked out three of his last four opponents.

“I’ve been sitting down on my punches more,” Quiroz told Boxingscene over the phone Friday night. “We’ve worked on that lately and I believe it’s allowed me to be more comfortable in setting up my combinations.”

Aside from training with his father Edgar, Quiroz has also benefitted from sparring some of the best fighters in the sport. Unified world lightweight titleholder Vasiliy Lomachenko, WBA featherweight titleholder Leo Santa Cruz, former world titleholder Ray Beltran, and unbeaten Ryan Garcia are a handful of fighters Quiroz has recently sparred against.

Quiroz believes that level of sparring has also improved his skill-set.

“Sparring all those fighters has made me a better fighter overall,” said Quiroz, a 2015 Hueneme High School graduate. “It has allowed me to become sharper and more effective in the ring.”

Fred Mendoza, a local strength and conditioning coach in Oxnard, agrees.

“We trained very hard for this fight and we’re going to bring the belt back to Oxnard,” said Mendoza. “(Ricardo) is ready.”

Quiroz will again fight away from home. Ortiz (9-0, 5 KOs), who resides in Worcester, Massachusetts, has fought all of his bouts at the Twin River Event Center and will likely have a partisan crowd in attendance.

As far as Quiroz is concerned about Ortiz’s family and friends in the crowd, he is unfazed by it.

“I know he will have a big crowd in attendance cheering for him. They can cheer all they want. It’s just going to be me and him in the ring.”

Quiroz would love to join the list of fighters to be from Oxnard and become world titleholders. That list includes Robert Garcia, Fernando Vargas, and Mikey Garcia, all of whom grew up in Oxnard.

Light heavyweight Oleksandr Gvozdyk and junior lightweight Andrew Cancio became world titleholders after moving to Oxnard.

Quiroz believes he can achieve that goal of winning a world title belt.

“I’ve been fighting since I was eight years old. I want to fulfill my dream of winning a world title. I want to send a message to the rest of the lightweights that I’m here to fight anyone. I’m confident and I feel ready. I’m not backing down from no one.”

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing