Norwalk's 2008 U.S. Olympian welterweight Javier “El Intocable” Molina (17-1, 8 KOs), East L.A. welterweight Aaron Martinez (20-4-1, 4 KOs) and undefeated lightweight prospect Alejandro "El Charro" Luna of Bellflower of held seperate workouts Tuesday afternoon at the Wild Card West Gym in Santa Monica, California for their upcoming bouts next week.
The 2008 Olympian Molina will square off against undefeated Jamal James (18-0, 9 KOs) on Tuesday January 19 at Club Nokia at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on the Fox Sports 1 PBC Toe to Toe Tuesday’s main event. Kicking off Danny Garcia vs. Robert Guerrero fight week.
"I prefer to fight in L.A. It's been a while but I'm thrilled to be fighting on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Deportes, so this is a great opportunity for me to shine," Molina said.
He is coming off a seventh round stoppage over Lenwood Dozier this past October as he looks to get passed the undefeated James. Molina vs. James will be a scheduled ten round bout.
"I've seen Jamal James fight a couple times, he has great reach and height but he gets tired late in his fights. He makes a lot of mistakes and has a lot of flaws. My plan is to get inside on him and chop him down," Molina said.
The veteran Martinez takes on undefeated prospect Sammy “The Who Can Mexican” Vasquez (20-0, 14 KO’s) of Pittsburgh four days later Saturday January 23 at the Staples Center live on FOX. Martinez is coming off a decision win over former world champion Devon Alexander.
"I was always training before this run of success started even when I was off for fourteen months before the Robert Guerrero fight. I think Guerrero underestimated me, I thought I won the fight but the judges had it differently," Martinez said
"Against Devon Alexander, I was the bigger guy. I've been fighting at 147 my whole life going back to when I was an amateur. He couldn't hurt me and couldn't deal with my pressure. I learned from the Guerrero to close the show like I did against Alexander," Martinez said.
Martinez vs. Vasquez will be a scheduled ten round welterweight bout as it will the co-main event on the Danny Garcia vs. Robert Guerrero debut series of Premier Boxing Champions on FOX.
"This is my third southpaw in a row but I trained with my brother for many years who's a southpaw. We sparred for years together and it was always about learning how to fight a southpaw. It might be weird to fight an orthodox fighter now," Martinez said. "Vasquez said he's going to stop me and prove himself, but everybody says things before the fight. He's going to start boxing once he feels my power. Although I don't have the knockouts on my record I do have the power and he's going to feel it," Martinez added.
El "Charro" Luna will open up the debut series of Premier Boxing Champions on FOX telecast against Alan Herrera (34-7, 22 KOs) of Sinaloa, Mexico. The 24 year old returns to Staples Center for a second consecutive time as he scored a fourth round knockout over Sergio Lopez on the Leo Santa Cruz vs Abner Mares card in August. Luna vs. Herrera will be a scheduled ten round lightweight bout.
"I've seen Alan Herrera fight. He's a very tough guy and I saw his fight with Monty Meza Clay, but we've had great sparring and we're well prepared. I have a great deal of respect for him. I know how tough he is," Luna said.
"There's no additional pressure on me, I've fought at STAPLES Center before and I'm ready to go. It's great to fight at home and I'm sure I'll have a lot of supporters."