By Francisco Salazar

LAS VEGAS - Diego De La Hoya has a lot of fight in him.

Rather than wait for his scheduled 10 round bout against Randy Caballero, a fight almost broke a day before at Friday afternoon's weigh-in.

The minor altercation further heightens the anticipation of what should be a solid fight between the two unbeaten junior featherweights.

De La Hoya and Caballero will settle their beef and to see which fighter at 122 pounds takes a major step forward Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The fight will take place on the undercard of the Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin middleweight clash.

Both fights will air live on HBO Pay-Per-View (8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT).

De La Hoya (19-0, 9 knockouts), who resides in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, has demonstrated a great deal of promise on smaller Golden Boy Promotions cards in Southern California.

The younger cousin of Oscar De La Hoya had a breakthrough performance on a big stage on Sept. 17 on the undercard of the Canelo Alvarez-Liam Smith fight at AT&T Stadium in suburban Dallas, outpointing Luis Orlando Del Valle over 10 one-sided rounds.

In his last bout on July 1, De La Hoya traveled to Argentina to face Alan Isaias Luques, winning a hard-fought 10 round unanimous decision.

The 23-year-old De La Hoya will now face Caballero, who is attempting to re-establish his career to what it was a few years ago. Caballero held a world title belt at 118 pounds.

If Friday's weigh-in was any indication of what could take place on Saturday night, then it should be a good, competitive bout. De La Hoya may have more motivation from the weigh-in altercation, but he wants to do his job and come out victorious.

"It's nothing personal," said De La Hoya earlier this week. In the ring, we're enemies. Outside of the ring, we can be friends. I just want to give the fans a great fight."

That makes sense as De La Hoya does not want to play into the mind games of Caballero, if Caballero is attempting to get under his skin.

A win is important as it catapults the victor to bigger fights with lucrative purses, including fights on HBO or ESPN.

"This fight is a big step for me that will catapult me towards a world title," said De La Hoya, who is managed by Joel De La Hoya. "I have prepared myself for seven weeks. It was one of the best camps of my life."

"I know Randy (Caballero) prepared himself really well (for this fight). He knows we're going to steal the show, because it's a very big event. I'm just very happy and fortunate (to fight on the card). I am ready."

De La Hoya has a lot of upside and there are boxing insiders and media who believes De La Hoya will shine Saturday night. He just wants to put on a solid show.

"I'm going to show the world because there's going tot be millions watching who Diego De La Hoya is.

I'm going to give my soul because I'm coming to win. Mexican fans will win."

Francisco A. Salazar has written for krikya360.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, RingTV.com, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing