By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
Del Rio’s Jesus “Panterita” Martinez finally has his opponent for his second professional fight.
Martinez (1-0) will take on Keven “Trouble” Monroy (1-2, 1 KO) in a four-round bantamweight bout as part of the undercard of tonight’s Matchroom Boxing event at the Tech Port Center and Arena in San Antonio. The main event features Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez (15-0, 10 KOs) versus Srisaket Sor Runvisai (50-5-1, 43 KOs) for Rodriguez’s WBC World Super Flyweight Title.
Martinez and Monroy are one of two preliminary fights that begin at 5 p.m. Those fights will air on dazn.com and on YouTube through the official Matchroom Boxing channel.
According to boxrec.com, Monroy, 22, made his professional debut March 27, 2021 with a third-round, TKO win over Angel Garcia Cervantes. Since then, however, he’s lost his last two fights. He lost to Damien Basulto in June 2021 via medical stoppage and then suffered a second-round, knockout loss to Subaru Murata 17 days later in Murata’s pro debut. Murata dropped Monroy with a short left hook that immediately dropped him before the referee called for an end to the fight.
Monroy has not fought since the loss to Murata June 26, 2021. Tonight’s fight against Martinez nearly marks the one-year anniversary of his last loss.
Monroy, who is from Spring Valley, Ca., is described as fighting with an orthodox style. Standing at 5’ 5”, he matches up well with Martinez in terms of size and style.
Martinez is coming off a unanimous decision win over Daniel Nuñez Gomez June 10 in Guadalajara, Mexico. It was Martinez’s professional debut after an amateur career in which he amassed a record of 137-9 and won 17 national and international championships.
The other preliminary fight on tonight’s card will see Nikita Ababiy (11-0, 6 KOs) versus Noe Larios Jr. (14-1, 6 KOs) in an eight-round, junior middleweight bout.
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