By Ryan Burton

This Friday night Las Vegas will see the return of the latest installment of Knockout Night at the D at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center.  Headlining the outdoor fight card will be Hanzel Martinez (23-2) of Tijuana, Mexico who was scheduled to Ghanaian Emmanuel Quartey (20-2).  When Quartey was unable to secure a visa, Erik Ruiz (15-5-1) stepped in to take his place. CBS Sports will televise the card beginning at 8 pm pacific.

The 24-year-old Martinez has won three fights in a row and is looking to stay on a roll.

"I had a very tough training camp. It was a good two months.  I worked hard to bring this title to Tijuana," said Martinez.

Even though Ruiz took the fight on short notice, Martinez expects a tough fight but believes he has enough to finish off his opponent inside of the 10 rounds that the fight is scheduled for.

"He is a fighter that is very hungry to win like me. He does whatever he needs to do to win. He doesn't want it to go to decision and neither do I. I have a lot of knockouts but I also need to use my defense to help me come out with the victory," Martinez explained.

The bout will be Martinez's first in Las Vegas after beginning his career in his native Mexico with most of his fights in the United States having taken place in California and Arizona.  Naturally he is very excited to be headlining in Sin City. 

"I am very excited to be fighting in Las Vegas.  Who doesn't want to fight in Vegas? Everyone knows that the big fights are there in the casinos.  It motivates me to do even better," Martinez stated.

The WBA International super bantamweight title will be at stake and Martinez said that he will be bringing it back to Mexico.

"I am very happy to have so much support.  I hope everyone tunes in to watch the fight because they will see the best of me and I like to put on a great show for the fans.  I am going to give it my all and bring the title back to Tijuana," Martinez told krikya360.com.

Send questions or comments to ringsidewriter@gmail.com. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @ringsidewriter