Ray Beltran to make super lightweight debut against Hiroki Okada

Badlefthook.com

37-year-old Ray Beltran, who won his first world title last year against Paulus Moses and lost it to Jose Pedraza six months later, will make his ring return as part of the February 10th Jose Ramirez-Jose Zepeda card in Fresno. He’ll debut at super lightweight against unbeaten Hiroki Okada, who is ranked in the IBF, WBA, and WBO top fives.

Okada (19-0, 13 KO), once the Japanese super lightweight champ, made his Stateside and Top Rank debut in September, coincidentally also in Fresno on the undercard of Ramirez’s bout with Antonio Orozco. He wound up having quite a bit more trouble than expected against Argentine journeyman Cristian Rafael Coria, getting off the canvas to eke out a split decision.

Beltran (35-8-1, 21 KO) was making his third bid at the WBO lightweight title against Moses, having been robbed in a draw against Ricky Burns and outclassed by Terence Crawford in previous efforts.

According to ESPN and BoxRec, the card will also feature Genesis Servania (32-1, 15 KO), best remembered for his brawl with Oscar Valdez, against undefeated Carlos Castro (21-0, 9 KO), plus former Beltran opponent Bryan Vazquez (37-2, 20 KO) opposite Enrique Tinoco (17-5-4, 12 KO).