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Photo by Stephanie TrappBROOKS, CALIFORNIA – Slowly making his way into fringe contention, veteran middleweight Paul Mendez looks to add another ‘W’ to his increasing win column and the IBA Middleweight title to his trophy case as he takes on journeyman Rahman Yusubov at the Cache Creek Casino Resort on Saturday night. Mendez hopes to come out unscathed to keep an October 28th Fox Sports 1-televised date intact. Fighters for the five-bout card weighed-in Friday evening on a stage set in the middle of the casino floor.

Mendez (13-2-1, 5 KOs) of Delano, California has reeled off eight consecutive wins and six since joining up with locally well-known, Salinas-based managerial and training outfit Garcia Boxing last July. Mendez should hope to improve upon his deceivingly-scored unanimous decision victory over trial horse Dashon Johnson just this past July. Though the fight was scored widely for a bruised and cut Mendez, nearly every round was fought tough. Mendez, who holds the minor IBA Continental Middleweight title, scaled 159.5-pounds on Friday.

Yusubov (9-11, 7 KOs) of Dallas, Texas by way of Tashkent, Uzbekistan figures to be the perfect opponent for Team Mendez, given the circumstances both leading into Saturday’s bout and the ramifications of what could come out of the night’s performance. Yusubov has just one win since moving to the United States in early 2011. Yusubov will have the dubious distinction of placing the final loss on the career of former title holder James Page. Yusubov took on the shaky-legged, comebacking 41-year-old last November. In that bout, Yusubov survived the initial rush from Page and eventually ended the noted bank robber’s career with an unanswered flurry in the second round. Losses to Elco Garcia and David Estrada followed in Yusubov’s two fights of 2013. Standing at 5’7” tall, Yusubov figures to have a literal hill to climb against the 6’1” Mendez. Yusubov scaled 159.5 pounds on Friday.

The fight of the night figures to be the co-feature. Bruno Escalante Jr. (9-1-1, 5 KOs) of Redwood City, California by way of Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines heads into his first step back-up fight since dropping an eight-round unanimous decision to still unbeaten Matt Villanueva in June of last year. Escalante will be taking on venerable journeyman Joseph Rios (13-8-2, 4 KOs) of San Antonio, Texas in an eight-round super flyweight bout.

Rios has gone 3-2 in his last five bouts, which came against opponents with a combined 35-0-1 record, meaning the Texan gave three unbeaten fighters their first loss. Rios has also gone 0-1-1 against former U.S. Olympian Luis Yanez, giving the young prospect two of his toughest fights. Escalante and Rios both weighed-in at 113.5-pounds.

Unbeaten Ricardo Pinell (5-0-1, 4 KOs) of San Francisco, California will take on Eric Mendez (2-1, 1 KO) of Hawaiian Gardens, California in a six-round light middleweight bout. The inactive Mendez, who turned professional all the way back in 2010 and still just has three fights, figures to be in shape considering he last fought in May. The four months off is by far the shortest stretch of inactivity for the three-fight pro, who scaled 154-pounds. Pinell, who came in at 153.5-pounds, was a top amateur and will be entering the ring for his sixth bout of 2013.

Another top former amateur Andy Vences (3-0, 2 KOs) of San Jose, California will take on Matthew Flores (0-2) of Twin Falls, Idaho in a four-round lightweight bout. Vences was one of the most sought-after locally based fighters coming out of the amateurs before eventually signing with manager Herb Stone, who also represents Escalante and Pinell on the card. Vences, who scaled 134, has battled injuries since turning pro in October. Flores, who also scaled 134-pounds, has lost both of his fights by majority decision to larger and fairly decent opposition.

The fifth bout of the card, a four-round light welterweight contest, almost never came together as promoter Paco Damian and several matchmakers struggled to find a replacement opponent for Garcia Boxing’s Darwin Price (1-0, 1 KO) of Saint Louis, Missouri. Originally scheduled Vicente Guzman had to pull out after a recent hard-fought draw made him medically ineligible. Eventually early this week veteran Johnny Frazier (2-19-4, 2 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nevada stepped up to the plate and took yet another short notice fight to go with the countless others of his career.

Price, a former Grambling State University track star, stopped winless Luis Sanchez in his pro debut in Redwood City on July 26th. Price traveled to Big Bear with Paul Mendez and Garcia Boxing to prepare for Saturday’s bout, logging over a dozen rounds with Shane Mosley, who is preparing to fight Anthony Mundine. Frazier is coming off of a closely-contested six-round decision loss to undefeated Simeon Dunwell on August 24th. Frazier may be remembered by local fight fans as the fighter that put a second draw on the record of Maximilliano Becerra before giving well regarded Stan Martyniouk a tough fight in two Sacramento fights last year.

Tickets for the event, promoted by Don Chargin Productions and Paco Presents, are available online at CacheCreek.com.

Quick Weigh-in Results:

IBA Middleweight Championship, 12 Rounds
Mendez 159.5
Yusubov 159.5

Super Flyweights, 8 Rounds
Escalante Jr. 113.5
Rios 113.5

Light Middleweights, 6 Rounds
Pinell 153.5
Mendez 154

Lightweights, 4 Rounds
Vences 134
Flores 134

Light Welterweights, 4 Rounds
Price 139.5
Frazier 139

Photo by Stephanie Trapp

Mario Ortega can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com or followed on Twitter @MarioG280.

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