Nelson Oliva believes sparring a few of boxing’s greatest fighters is useful to his improvement within the sport.
Oliva will face Alfonso Olvera tonight at Thunder Studios in Lengthy Seaside, California. The eight-round bout will headline a six-bout New Blood card that can stream reside on Fubo Sports activities, FOX Deportes, Stadium, and Grey TV (9:30 p.m. ET/ 6:30 p.m. PT).
At Friday’s weigh-in, Oliva weighed in at 153.6 kilos. Olvera got here in at 153 kilos.
Oliva (11-0, 8 knockouts), who resides in Los Angeles, has had the fortune of not too long ago sparring IBF and WBO world unified world titleholder Janibek Alimkhanuly and middleweight contender Hamzah Sheeraz. The rounds of sparring have benefitted Oliva, even altering the psychological strategy to his fights.
“Once I started working with Hamzah, I observed their strategy in relation to sparring,” Oliva informed The Ring this previous week. “They actually know the right way to tempo themselves and these are already 12-round fighters. I observed that within the caliber of sparring in comparison with different fighters I’ve gotten within the ring with.”
The 28-year-old Oliva is skilled by Henry Ramirez, who has additionally skilled within the likes of former world heavyweight Chris Arreola and welterweight Josesito Lopez.
Ramirez has seen Oliva’s skill-set enhance over the past couple of years, whether or not it’s the quantity of mitt work that’s performed within the fitness center or from sparring in opposition to top-level fighters.
“Nestor is an excellent fighter,” Ramirez informed The Ring earlier this week. “He’s low upkeep and a really humble man. You truly really feel such as you’re speaking to an grownup when talking to him. He’s a reasonably good boxer. I believe he’s grown right into a pure boxer. He has quite a lot of knockouts, however he has improved his skill-set quite a bit. He has extra elusiveness. It’s one thing that he’ll present in a while. He has fluctuated between 154, 160 and 168 kilos, however he’s going to marketing campaign at 160 kilos.”
Oliva first started combating on Thompson Boxing Promotion playing cards, which promoted struggle playing cards in close by Ontario and Corona. The Basic Supervisor and matchmaker was Alex Camponovo, who now runs CBN Promotions since final yr.
The Olvera struggle will mark Oliva’s second of this yr, however Oliva is grateful for the chance to struggle on native playing cards in entrance of household and mates, together with growing as a fighter.
“I’ve been with Alex because the starting of my profession,” stated Oliva, who made his professional debut in February 2021. “It’s been nice working with them. It retains me busy and I believe that’s an important factor about my profession. Retaining busy and staying lively, and simply preserve getting these fights. I wish to enhance myself and enhance confidence in myself. My staff believes in me, and with the abilities I’m studying, simply to be constant in my improvement to go to the following degree.”
Oliva wish to struggle as soon as extra this yr. Whether or not he does or not, Oliva believes 2025 will likely be an amazing yr for him, one the place he might stand out and assert himself as a legit prospect at 154 kilos.
“I truly consider 2025 will likely be an amazing yr for me,” stated Oliva. “That is my first official struggle as a junior middleweight. There’s quite a lot of expertise in that division. There’s quite a lot of fights for me that might be made there.
“Something might be subsequent after my struggle in opposition to Olvera. I’m open to all alternatives. I’m only a cellphone name away. I positively wish to struggle extra typically.”
In his final bout on March 30, Oliva defeated Franyerson Puerta by unanimous determination. In his earlier struggle on November 4, Oliva outboxed Dario Meneses-Guerrero en path to a call victory.
Olvera (13-8-3, 5 KOs), who’s initially from Nogales, Mexico and now resides in Tucson, Arizona, has not fought since a knockout win over Ousmane Sylla on Might 13 of final yr. Previous to the win over Sylla, over an 11-month span, the 34-year-old misplaced back-to-back fights in opposition to Quinton Randall and Delonte Johnson.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has coated boxing in Southern California and overseas since 2000. Francisco additionally covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He could be reached at [email protected]
