Undefeated featherweight and world-ranked Ruben Villa (17-0, 5 KOs) is winding down his training for his 10-round showdown with Cuban knockout artist Alexei Collado (26-2, 23 KOs), this Friday night at the Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, Louisiana.
The bout will headline a three-fight telecast on ShoBox: The New Generation and live on SHOWTIME (10 PM ET/PT).
Villa has been working hard just outside of his native Salinas, California.
“Training camp has been good. I have been training in Prunedale which is a little bit outside of Salinas, but its close enough, so in a way I am home, but I am not at home.
In Collado, he is facing a tough veteran, who has an impressive knockout ratio.
“Collado is a real strong aggressive guy. He is a veteran. I have to be cautious because of his power and play it very smart on our end.”
With a winning performance on January 31st, Villa can see himself in the middle of the featherweight title chase as he looks to improve on his number-five ranking by the WBO.
“I feel like I’ve proven myself with the last couple of fights. I feel like I belong in the top-five if not higher. I feel that a win will set me up for bigger and better things.
Villa has been more them grateful to accelerate from prospect to contender on the series that has showcased more than 75 world champions.
“Another main event on ShoBox. I am excited to showcase my talents in Louisiana again. It’s motivation to prove myself to people that I should be the main event.
“I am usually just real focused. I know the featherweight division is stacked, but I am really just focused on what is in front of me and focused for the fight. After we are finished on January 31st, my team and I can figure out what is next; however, I feel that I am close to competing for a world title.”
Villa is promoted by Banner Promotions and Thompson Boxing.
Undefeated Ukrainian and 2012 Olympic Bronze medalist Taras Shelestyuk (17-0, 10 KOs) meets Argentina’s Luis Alberto Veron (18-1-2, 9 KOs) in a 10-round welterweight matchup in the co-featured bout. The televised opener features an eight-round lightweight bout pitting ShoBox veteran Zhora Hamazaryan (9-1-1, 6 KOs) of Armenia against Sulaiman Segawa (13-2, 4 KOs) of Uganda.
