Diego De La Hoya to return on Golden Boy on ESPN main event on Dec. 14

Diego De La Hoya will return to the ring on Dec. 14 as the main event for Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California.

De La Hoya (20-0, 9 KO's), 23, of Mexico, the NABF and NABO super bantamweight champion, who is coming off a career-defining performance against former world champion Randy Caballero, will face battle-tested Jose "Sugar" Salgado (35-4-2, 28 KO's) of Quintana Roo, Mex. in a scheduled 10-round bout.

"I'd like to thank Golden Boy Promotions and my manager once again for keeping me busy with this final fight of 2017," said Diego De La Hoya. "It'll be my fifth fight this year, and my team and I feel confident in my progression. I'm looking forward to closing the year off at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino and on ESPN. I anticipate 2018 to be even greater!

"Since my last fight, I have been hoping for an opportunity like this one," said Jose Salgado. "This fight motivates me. De La Hoya is a great challenge, and I hope he is prepared to take me on. On December 14, I am going to give it my all to come out victorious for my fans and family."

"Diego showed us with every fight this year that he continues to hone his craft and get better with every opponent," said Chairman and CEO Oscar De La Hoya. "This will be a fun fight for the fans and a great way to close out what has been a phenomenal year for Diego."

On the co-feature, Carlos "The Solution" Morales (16-2-3, 6 KO's) will face Kosovo's Dardan Zenunaj (14-3, 11 KO's) in a scheduled 10-round clash for the vacant NABA super featherweight title. Morales lost he title this past August to Alberto Machado in a tough unanimous decision loss in Puerto Rico.

Ferdinand Kerobyan (6-0, 3 KO's) will face a soon to be announced opponent in a four-round welterweight bout. Kerobyan is coming off a first-round knockout victory over Uriel Gonzalez in October.

Rounding out the undercard, Joet Gonzalez (17-0, 9 KO's) will take on the resilient Juan "Buffy" Montes (25-6-2, 15 KO's) in a 10-round featherweight bout. Gonzalez is coming off an impressive fifth-round knockout win over Deivi Bassa on the undercard of Miguel Cotto vs. Yoshihiro Kamegai this past August.

San Antonio's Joshua "El Profesor" Franco (12-0, 6 KO's) will participate in a scheduled eight rounds of action in the super flyweight division, and East LA's Jonathan "Thunder" Navarro (11-0, 6 KO's) will engage in a scheduled eight rounds in the super lightweight class. Opponents will be announced shortly. Opening up the action, Raul "El Cugar" Curiel (1-0), a 2016 Olympian from Mexico, will take on the rugged Israel Villela (6-7, 2 KO's) in a welterweight bout scheduled for six rounds.

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