On February 19th, Super Bantamweight prospect Diego De LA Hoya (13-0 7KO’s) will be making his return to the ring as he squares off against veteran Arturo Badillo (21-9 8KO’s) at the Belasco Theater in Los Angeles California which will be part of the LA Fight Club series and will be streamed live on ringtvlive.com.
One of my favorite developing prospects in the sport, Diego De LA Hoya made his professional debut in September of 2013. Since then, De La Hoya has been staying active and has passed each test with flying colors despite the fact that he hasn’t been matched softly thus far into his young professional career. He made his debut against an 8-3-1 fighter and has been steadily raising his level of competition with each and every fight. This past November De La Hoya picked up his first professional title (WBC youth Super Bantamweight title) against Jesus Ruiz who was an experienced veteran with a record of 34-6-5 at the time. Diego stands at 5’6 in height and possesses a 68-inch reach. He has good hand speed and often throws combinations. He also has a good jab that he likes to always work off of. He also gauges distance well and seems to possess that animalistic killer instinct much like his older cousin/promoter Oscar. As a fighter, he is aggressive by nature and I would categorize him as a boxer-puncher though he doesn’t seem to have one punch KO power. However, he is only 22 and still hasn’t got his “man strength” so it’s possible for him to develop more power and physical strength as he gets older.
Arturo Badillo, on the other hand, is a former WBA world super flyweight title challenger and has been in the ring with some good fighters such as Arthur Villanueva and Jhonatan Romero. Arturo Badillo won his first 17 fights, however, it should be noted that all of those fights took place in Mexico against lower opposition. Badillo stands at 5’8 ½ in height and possesses a 70-inch reach. He will not only be the more experienced fighter going into the ring on February 19th but he will also be the bigger man as well. Badillo likes to throw hard looping body shots and is a game fighter, this is a very appropriate fight for De La Hoya at this stage of his career. I look forward to watching this fight and enjoy continuing to witness the growth and development of Diego De La Hoya!
