By Chris Cella

Leading up to the highly anticipated super welterweight world championship unification bout between undefeated stars Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Austin Trout this Saturday, April 20, two undefeated lightweight prospects—Omar Figueroa Jr. and Abner Cotto—will get the action started and throw hands as they battle for the vacant WBC Silver Lightweight title.

Photo: Golden Boy Promotions

Texas native Figueroa Jr. (20-0-1, 16 KO) has been on a fast track into the top 10 within his division, going this distance only once in his last eight fights, and winning six times is as many trips to the ring in 2012. The 23-year-old fighter has shown power and poise through his young career and is ready to take the step to the next level of opposition as he faces the dangerous prospect Cotto who too is looking to establish himself as a contender within the division.

A second cousin of Puerto Rican superstar and former champion Miguel Cotto, Abner (16-0, 7 KO), much like Figueroa, has looked impressive through the early stages of his career, and has quickly become one of Puerto Rico’s top stars. As he looks to expand his fan base and get bigger fights, he needs to be sharp and deliver a stellar performance against the heavy handed Figueroa.

Both fighters will be exchanging leather on the biggest stage of their career, fighting as a co-feature with two of the top fighters in the world in Alvarez and Trout.

Figueroa has the home field advantage, but Cotto comes from a strong line of boxing talent, and pay homage to the family name as he fights on Texas soil for the first time.

In addition to both fighters looking to preserve their unblemished records and move one step closer to working toward a contention fight within the lightweight division, this fight will be about making a statement and showing the boxing world exactly where they stand amongst rated lightweights.

The buzz for Alvarez/Trout continues to grow exponentially, even as 33,000 tickets had already been sold for this world title fight. This fight holds implications not only for the unified belt, but it is likely that the winner will face the victor of Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Robert Guerrero, who will battle on May 4. As a result of the continuing demand for tickets for this unification showdown, two bleachers will be added to the existing set-up to allow for an additional 3,000 seats. The newly added seats will be available for purchase at the Alamodome box office Monday, April 15 at noon CT.

The action for this exciting night of title fights gets started this Saturday, April 20 on Showtime at 10 p.m. Eastern.

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