“Savage” Cortes Eyes World Title Shot in San Diego Showdown

Junior lightweight standout Andres “Savage” Cortes is ready to roar back into action as he faces Spain’s Salvador Jimenez in a high-stakes 10-round clash on Saturday, May 10, at Pechanga Arena in San Diego. Ranked No. 5 in the world by the WBO, the unbeaten Las Vegas native is aiming to secure his path to a long-awaited world title opportunity.

The Cortes-Jimenez bout headlines the undercard of a blockbuster night featuring a double main event: Emanuel Navarrete defends his WBO junior lightweight title against Charly Suarez, and Raymond Muratalla squares off with Zaur Abdullaev for the interim IBF lightweight crown.

The Navarrete-Suarez and Muratalla-Abdullaev fights will be broadcast live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+ starting at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. Meanwhile, Cortes-Jimenez and the full undercard, including the previously announced welterweight battle between San Diego’s Giovani Santillan and Angel Beltran, will stream live exclusively on ESPN+ in the U.S. Tickets are available now via AXS.com.

“I’m back and ready to remind the world why I’m still a major threat at junior lightweight,” said Cortes (22-0, 12 KOs). “This is my year. It all starts with a statement win on May 10.”

Cortes has built strong momentum with knockouts of Xavier Martinez and Bryan Chevalier, followed by a closely contested unanimous decision win over former world champ Abraham Nova last June. A planned showdown with Charly Suarez last fall was derailed by a training injury, but Cortes is now fully focused on Jimenez (14-1-1, 6 KOs), a rugged former Spanish and European Union champion who’s never been stopped. Jimenez is coming off a decision loss to Ryan Garner in a battle for the European and WBC International belts.

Other Undercard Highlights:

Featherweight on the Rise: Albert “Chop Chop” Gonzalez (13-0, 7 KOs) returns just a month after a win over Dana Coolwell to face seasoned contender Jose Guardado (16-3-1, 6 KOs) in a 10-rounder. Guardado last fought in April 2024, suffering a TKO loss to Robson Conceição.

Comeback Trail: Lightweight Alan “Kid Kansas” Garcia (15-1, 11 KOs) looks to stay in the win column against Cristian Medina Garcia (8-2-1, 5 KOs) after bouncing back from a knockout loss last September.

KO Machine: Mexico’s Sebastian “Logan” Hernandez (19-0, 18 KOs) puts his 17-fight knockout streak on the line against hard-hitting veteran Azat “Crazy A” Hovhannisyan (21-5, 17 KOs) in a can’t-miss eight-round junior featherweight banger.

Rising Stars: Sammy Contreras (1-0, 1 KO), a 14-time national amateur champ, is back in action in a four-round junior welterweight bout against an opponent to be announced.

Women’s Spotlight: Top Rank’s latest signee, Perla Bazaldua (1-0, 1 KO), makes her promotional debut in a four-round junior bantamweight tilt against Mona Ward (0-1), while hard-hitting Briana Carrera (3-0, 1 KO) faces fellow unbeaten Kacey Wheeler (2-0, 2 KOs) in a junior welterweight four-rounder.