Super middleweight Raphael Igbokwe will face Juan Carlos Rodriguez on Saturday night, manager Joseph Vredevelt told krikya360.com.
The 10-round middleweight bout will take place at the Oxygen Human Playground in Heredia, Costa Rica.
Igbokwe (15-2, 6 knockouts), who resides in the Houston, Texas suburb of Fresno, last fought on November 28, defeating Genc Pllana by split-decision. The fight was a rematch of their August 2019 clash, which Igbokwe won by majority decision.
The 28-year-old Igbokwe has won his last three fights since losing back-to-back split-decision losses to Alexis Gaytan in 2019.
Igbokwe will be fighting for the first time outside of Texas.
Rodriguez (18-2, 17 KOs), who resides in Caracas, Venezuela and is promoted by Belgica Pena, has not fought in almost two years, stopping overmatched Pedro Mongua in round 2 in May 2019. None of his victories have been against fighters with winning records.
The 30-year-old faced Jeison Rosario in November 2018, losing by knockout in round 3. Over a year later, Rosario would knockout Julian Williams to win the IBF and WBA junior middleweight titles. Seven weeks before the Rosario fight, Rodriguez suffered his first loss as a pro to Magomed Kurbanov of Russia in a clash of unbeaten fighters.
In featherweight action, Pablo Cruz will square off against journeyman Jose Luis Graterol in an eight-round bout.
Cruz (20-3, 6 KOs), who also resides in the Houston area and is managed by Vredevelt, lost to Eddy Valencia by unanimous decision in his last bout on December 9. The loss snapped a string of six consecutive victories.
Graterol (22-20-5, 8 KOs) lost to unbeaten featherweight Yerel Siezar by unanimous decision in his last bout on February 8. The 43-year-old from Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela has lost two of his last four bouts after winning his previous five.
IBF Female strawweight titleholder Yokasta Valle (20-2, 9 KOs), who is originally from El Salvador and now resides in Costa Rica, will face Japan’s Sana Hazuki (8-4-1, 2 KOs) in a 10-round bout. No word if Valle’s world title belt will be on the line.
Amateur standout Freudis Rojas of Las Vegas will make his pro debut against Roy Fernandez (0-1) of Costa Rica in a four-round welterweight bout.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for BoxingScene 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. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing