Oscar De La Hoya and his Golden Boy Promotions host a boxing card at the Belasco Theater in Los Angeles, California this Thursday that is set to air on Fox Sport 1. The sport book at Several Bookmakers has a line on the Featherweight 10 round main event between prospect Jayson Velez (22-0-1) and veteran Daniel Ramirez (11-2). Right now, the books have Velez a major (-1900) favorite, with the comeback on Ramirez coming in at (+1200). There is no over/under on the bout as of yet. Make no mistake about it, Velez is Golden Boy’s fighter in this fight. At 27 years old, the Puerto Rican is coming off a fight last November with Evgeny Gradovich for the IBF World Featherweight title that ended in a draw. Velez has been promoted by Puerto Rican star Miguel Cotto since the beginning of his career, and he has been well handled. He has fought on several big cards in Madison Square Garden and he collected a handful of regional belts on his way to the world title shot versus Gradovich. Gradovich had held the belt for a year and a half and through three title defenses when they battled to a split draw. Gradovich lost the belt this past weekend to Lee Selby in England, and Velez needs a win to make a case for a potential shot at the belt. Ramirez is the type of fighter who comes to fight, and Golden Boy has booked him before. His last fight was in November of 2014 when he appeared on the undercard of the Bernard Hopkins vs Sergey Kovalev and was stopped in the sixth round by Eric Hunter (18-3). Consider that to be his audition for this fight, as his performance was good but he should present little threat to Velez. For Ramirez, it is a good chance to look good on a high profile event, but it is likely that he will be relegated to looking good in a losing effort yet again. The “LA Fight Club” format was bought back from the scrap heap by Oscar De La Hoya this year, and starting in February of this year they have been running shows on a consistent basis. The live event for this event will feature a meet and greet with de La Hoya where he will be taking pictures and signing autographs. Likely to also be on the broadcast is the co-main event eight rounder pitting Lightweights Carlos Morales (8-1-3) and Emanuel Gonzalez (14-1), and there are five fights planned in all. Also on the card is 19 year old Christian Gonzalez who is (9-0) and is highly protected as a prospect by Del La Hoya and the matchmaking team. His opponents combined records are (8-32-1), and 6 of those opponents have never tasted victory. Though De La Hoya likes to hype the “Fight Club” bouts as well matched, they are really just providing wins and a showcase for his stable of fighters.
