The stage is set for the Boxeo Telemundo summer season finale.
Dennis ‘El Martillo’ Contreras and Cesar Juarez both made weight ahead of their scheduled ten-round regional title fight. Both boxers weighed right at the 126-pound divisional limit for their televised main event Friday evening on Telemundo from White Sands Event Center in Plant City, Florida.
Contreras (24-10-1, 22KOs) has rapidly emerged as a series favorite, appearing for the fourth time on the platform including his second straight headliner at this venue. The all-action 29-year-old from Guadalajara, Mexico is coming off a tenth-round stoppage of Hairon Socarras on March 12, having to rally to close the show in his most competitive fight since the pandemic.
The win was the fourth straight for Contreras, a run that began with an upset eight-round win over previously unbeaten Fernando Garcia in May 2019. A fifteen-month inactive stretch followed due to the pandemic, returning behind closed doors to earn a thrilling fifth-round knockout of Belmar Preciado last August at Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee last August. The same location housed his sixth-round knockout of undefeated Carlos Flores last October, before earning his aforementioned win over Socarras.
Prior to the current win streak, Contreras hit the roughest stretch of his career in having claimed just one win over a ten-fight stretch. The rough patch included losses to future two-division champion Emanuel Navarrete and former titlist Hugo Ruiz.
Juarez (26-10, 20KOs) comes in well-credentialed, even if on the wrong side of his prime. The 30-year-old Mexico City native—who is managed by Sean Gibbons—has fought on the title stage, coming up short in a twelve-round points loss to Nonito Donaire in their December 2015 scorcher for the vacant WBO junior featherweight title.
Rougher times have since emerged for Juarez, who is 9-6 since his lone career title fight. A three-fight losing streak saw Juarez fall well short to Angelo Leo, Carlos Castro and Jordan Gill before taking a tune-up fight this past May, earning a third-round knockout for his first victory since November 2019.
Juarez has not defeated a foe with a winning record in nearly three years, though remains dangerous in the twilight of his entertaining career.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox