Omar Figueroa, Randy Caballero Get Showcase Fights On March 16 ShoBox

Omar Figueroa will return to the ring and to ShoBox: The New Generation on March 16, as the exciting Golden Boy prospect looks to turn a few more heads with his all-action style.

Figueroa (14-0-1, 11 KO) is a 22-year-old lightweight prospect from Weslaco, Texas, coming off a very impressive performance in breaking down previously-unbeaten prospect Michael Perez on the January 6 edition of the show. His opponent will be Ramon Ayala, a 23-year-old, 5'9" Mexican lightweight with a record of 23-2-1 (11 KO). Ayala hasn't beaten anyone to date, but he turned pro very young in 2006, with his first pro bout coming just four months after his 17th birthday.

His two losses have come to David Rodela, who knocked him out in four rounds in 2008 (just after Ayala turned 19), and more damning, to Antonio Sanchez, who was 4-5-1 when they fought, and is 7-7-1 today.

Also on the show will be 21-year-old super bantamweight prospect Randy Caballero (13-0, 7 KO). Caballero, promoted by Golden Boy and managed by Cameron Dunkin, will face Jose Luis Araiza (29-5-1, 20 KO). Araiza, 33, has been stopped four times, and is 0-4-1 in his last five fights.

I'd love to change the broken record, but more and more, it looks like ShoBox is just becoming a version of Friday Night Fights for power promoters to stick their prospects into showcase fights, and losing the entire spirit of what the show was supposed to be about: Matching young fighters tough, often against one another, in fights that actually teach us something about the prospects in question.

As much as I want to see Omar Figueroa again, and I've also liked what I've seen of Caballero thus far, it pains me that ShoBox is slipping away from the mission statement. I'm not saying we'll never see another great fight, or that we'll never see another upset, but the chances dim every time you make cards filled with fights like this. These are spoonfed fights on paper.

For those in the area, here's ticket info:

Tickets, priced at $25, $35 and $45, are available for purchase at the Fantasy Springs Box Office, by calling (800) 827-2946 or online at www.fantasyspringsresort.com. Doors at Fantasy Springs will open at 6:00 p.m. PT on fight night and the first bell rings at 6:30 p.m. PT.