Las Vegas junior lightweight Andres “Savage” Cortes resumes his quest for a world title shot against Spain’s Salvador Jimenez in a ten rounder on Saturday, May 10th at Pechanga Arena in San Diego. Cortes-Jimenez tops undercard action before a doubleheader featuring Emanuel Navarrete’s WBO junior lightweight title defense against Charly Suarez and the interim IBF lightweight title showdown between Raymond Muratalla and Zaur Abdullaev. Navarrete-Suarez and Muratalla-Abdullaev will be broadcast LIVE on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. Cortes-Jimenez, the previously announced welterweight fight between San Diego’s Giovani Santillan and Angel Beltran, and the rest of the undercard will stream live and exclusively in the U.S. on ESPN+. Promoted by Top Rank, tickets are on sale via AXS.com.
“I’m back and ready to show everyone why I’m still a force at junior lightweight,” Cortes said. “I’m looking for a title shot this year, and it all starts on May 10 when I put on a great performance against Jimenez.”
Cortes (22-0, 12 KOs) was riding a wave of momentum after knocking out Xavier Martinez and Bryan Chevalier in consecutive fights. Last June, he edged Abraham Nova by unanimous decision in a verdict that had ringside observers split. Cortes and Suarez were scheduled to fight in an ESPN co-feature last September before Cortes suffered a training injury. He now turns his focus to Jimenez (14-1-1, 6 KOs), a former Spanish champion who has never been knocked out. Jimenez is coming off a decision defeat to Ryan Garner in March for the European title.
In other scheduled undercard action:
Featherweight Albert “Chop Chop” Gonzalez (13-0, 7 KOs) looks to earn his second win in as many months when he takes on Jose Guardado (16-3-1, 6 KOs) in a ten-rounder. Gonzalez won a workmanlike decision over Australia’s Dana Coolwell on April 5th in Las Vegas. Guardado, from Ensenada, Mexico, is a six-year pro who fell via seventh-round TKO to Robson Conceição on a Top Rank on ESPN card in April 2024.
Lightweight Alan “Kid Kansas” Garcia (15-1, 11 KOs) fights Mexico’s Cristian Medina Garcia (8-2-1, 5 KOs) in an eight-rounder. After suffering a stunning one-punch knockout at the hands of Ricardo Fernandez last September, Garcia returned to winning ways in February with a six-round decision over Juan Centeno.
Emerging Mexican junior featherweight Sebastian “Logan” Hernandez (19-0, 18 KOs) battles former world title challenger Azat “Crazy A” Hovhannisyan (21-5, 17 KOs) in a can’t-miss eight-rounder. Hovhannisyan is coming off a competitive decision loss to Alan Picasso, while Hernandez is riding a 17-fight KO streak.
Sammy Contreras (1-0, 1 KO) makes a rapid return against an opponent to be named in a four-rounder at junior welterweight. The 14-time national amateur champion turned pro on April 5th with a first-round stoppage of Robert Jimenez.
Top Rank’s newest SoCal signing, Perla Bazaldua (1-0, 1 KO), makes her promotional debut in a four-round junior bantamweight bout against Saint Louis native Mona Ward (0-1).
• Briana Carrera (3-0, 1 KO), a big-punching junior welterweight, will make her Top Rank on ESPN debut in a four-rounder against fellow unbeaten Kacey Wheeler (2-0, 2 KOs). Carrera, a native of Arlington, Texas, was a top amateur before turning pro last May with a first-round knockout over Jessie Clark.
