Ismael Barroso may be pushing 40 years of age, but he believes he can compete and defeat any fighter at 140 pounds.
The hard-hitting Barroso will face Nelson Paniagua in a stay-busy fight Saturday night at the Four Ambassadors Hotel in his adopted hometown of Miami, Florida. The 10-round bout will stream live on the M&R Boxing Promotions Facebook page (7 p.m. ET/ 4 p.m. PT).
Barroso (23-3-2, 20 knockouts), who is originally from El Tigre, Venezuela, last fought in December 2019, defeating Canada’s Yves Ulysse, Jr. by unanimous decision. He has won his last two bouts since losing by knockout to former world title challenger Batyr Akhmedov.
The loss to Akhmedov was Barroso’s first fight at 140 pounds after mixed results in significant fights as a lightweight. In his only attempt at a world title belt in May 2016, Barroso was knocked out by then-WBA lightweight titleholder Anthony Crolla. Prior to the loss in round 7, Barroso was up on all three judges’ scorecards.
Barroso, who turned 38 this past Wednesday, does have victories over Kevin Mitchell and Fidel Maldonado.
Despite holding a secondary world title belt, Barroso believes he is amongst the best fighters at 140 pounds. Manager Osmiri Fernandez is confident a significant fight can be made for this year.
“Ismael has been inactive for over a year due to the (COVID-19) pandemic,” Fernandez told BoxingScene Thursday evening. “We hope the WBA can arrange a mandatory or elimination bout after Saturday’s fight. Ismael has the experience. We’ll fight anyone. (Jose) Ramirez, (Josh) Taylor, or (Mario) Barrios. We don’t wait for anyone.”
Paniagua (26-10-2, 17 KOs), who resides in Santa Fe, Argentina, was knocked out by Jeremy Cuevas in round 2 of his last bout on March 7. It was his first fight in almost four years, when he was knocked out by then-unbeaten Matias Rueda.
Other significant fights for the 41-year-old were knockout losses to Yuriorkis Gamboa in September 2007 and to Rey Vargas in January 2015.
In an intriguing clash of unbeaten junior welterweight prospects, former amateur standout Mekhrubon Sanginov will square off against Quincy LaVallais in an eight-round bout.
Sanginov (8-0-1, 6 KOs), who is originally from Tajikistan and now resides in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson, dropped Cleotis ‘Mookie’ Pendarvis three times en route to a knockout win in round 4. The fight took place exactly 14 months after fighting to a majority-decision draw against unbeaten Fred Wilson, Jr.
LaVallais (10-0-1, 5 KOs) defeated Clay Collard by unanimous decision in his last bout on December 12. The Kenner, Louisiana resident has won his last three bouts since fighting to a split-decision draw against Collard in June 2019.
Junior lightweight prospect Otar Eranosyan (4-0, 2 KOs), who is originally from the country of Georgia and now resides in Miami Beach, will face against fringe contender Juan Carlos Pena (31-2, 23 KOs) of the Dominican Republic in a 10-round bout.
Fringe welterweight contender James Bacon (25-4, 17 KOs) of the Philippines will square off against Argentina’s Ramon De La Cruz Sena (23-27-3, 13 KOs) in a 10-round 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 [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing.