By Francisco Salazar

Can Erik Ruiz defeat another unbeaten prospect?

The junior featherweight has done it before and defeated fringe contenders in the process.

Ruiz will face unbeaten Angelo Leo tonight in an eight-round bout at the Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall in Las Vegas.

Ruiz (17-7-1, 7 knockouts) was victorious in his last bout on June 9, stopping prospect Mario Alberto Diaz in the eighth and final round. The Oxnard, California resident has also defeated fringe contender Hanzel Martinez and previously-unbeaten Roy Tapia.

The 26-year-old Ruiz, who is trained by Robert Garcia, has also faced and lost to  WBA titleholder Daniel Roman, unbeaten Diego De La Hoya, contender Jessie Magdaleno, and Manuel ‘Tino’ Avila.

Back in 2016, Ruiz and former contender Horacio Garcia fought to a split-decision draw, a fight many thought Ruiz did enough to win.

Leo (14-0, 8 KOs) will have the hometown crowd on his side, but he has nowhere near fought the level of opposition Ruiz has fought.

Leo’s only notable victory was in his last fight when he knocked out former bantamweight contender Glenn Porras on Oct. 27.

In the main event, Ladarius Miller (17-1, 5 KOs) will take on Ricardo Garcia (14-3-1, 9 KOs) of the Dominican Republic in a 10-round bout.

Lightweight Xavier Martinez (12-0, 8 KOs) of Sacramento will square off against Mexico’s Arturo Santos Reyes (19-10, 5 KOs) in an eight-round bout.

Super middleweight Ronald Gavril (18-3, 14 KOs) will attempt to break a two-bout losing streak when he faces Antowyan Aikens (13-5-1, 1 KO) in an eight-round bout.

Mayweather Promotions is promoting the card.

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 (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing