Unbeaten power punchers Omar Figueroa, Keith Thurman and Antonio Orozco will head up the hard-hitting non-pay-per-view undercard for “Ring Kings: Mayweather vs. Cotto” taking place May 5 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. The line-up guarantees that fans in attendance in Las Vegas will see the best of the next generation of boxing stars, while fans at home will be able to see Figueroa and Thurman in action in separate bouts which will be shown live on select internet outlets as well as by satellite and cable providers prior to the pay-per-view telecast. Those outlets include Ustream.tv, Yahoo! Sports, FoxSports.com, SI.com, CraveOnline.com and HBO.com/InsideBoxing.com.
Weslaco’s Omar “Panterita” Figueroa (15-0-1, 12 KO’s) has long been a Texas favorite because of his knockout power and aggressive style, but the rest of the country took notice of “Panterita” in 2012, as a result of his nationally televised knockouts of unbeaten Michael Perez and Ramon Ayala. He is now on the short list of fighters to watch in the stacked 135-pound weight class. On May 5, he’ll look to add another impressive win to his ledger when he battles Pevely, Missouri’s Robbie Cannon (12-6-2, 6 KO’s) in an eight-round bout.
Welterweight prospect Keith “One Time” Thurman (16-0, 15 KO’s) is rapidly becoming one of the most feared young fighters in the sport today, and at just 23, he’s only going to get better. The owner of a 94 percent knockout ratio, the Clearwater, Florida native returned from a 15-month layoff in February in impressive style when he stopped Christopher Fernandez in a single round. Hannibal, Missouri’s undefeated Brandon Hoskins (16-0-1, 8 KO’s) will aim to stop the meteoric rise of Thurman this Saturday night in an eight-round welterweight bout.
Also in undercard action will be twenty-four year old Mexico native Antonio Orozco (13-0, 9 KO’s), who is the latest promising talent to emerge from that fighting rich nation as “The Simple Man” continues to progress and impress in his impressive undefeated career. Most recently, he has stepped up with his best performances to date including a fourth round knockout triumph over Rodolfo Armenta at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas in February and a shutout win over Fernando Rodriguez at STAPLES Center last October. Now, he is back in the fight capital of the world for an eight-round welterweight bout against Fort Myers, Florida’s Dillet Frederick (8-5-3, 5 KO’s).
Also featured will be with a four/six-round featherweight bout between Carolina, Puerto Rico’s undefeated Braulio Santos (5-0, 5 KO’s) and San Bernardino, California’s Juan Sandoval (5-8-1, 3 KO’s).
