Unbeaten welterweight Joel Iriarte is considered one of the sport's best prospects.
The former amateur standout will look to take the next step in his journey when he faces Jorge Lagunas over eight rounds on the Lamont Roach-William Zepeda undercard Saturday at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.
"I've been training super hard. I really don't take any time off, so I'm just excited to get back in there," Iriarte (10-0, 9 KOs) told The Ring. "Learn a lot from this fight, climb the ranks and get better ... show the world a little bit more of my skill set."
Iriarte's story began when he was 6 years old. He claimed his first national championship at 12 and hasn't looked back since, claiming 17 national titles in more than 300 amateur fights.
"I was able to make Team US the first year I was allowed at 14 years old, fighting in the 15-16 age category. I was on Team US until I was 19. We went to the Pan-American games, and I won gold."
The Olympics might've been next, but he chose a different direction.
"I [wanted] to take off the head gear, I wanted to get paid for it, and chose to go into the professionals," he said. "It was honestly the best decision for me at the time, and I signed with Golden Boy."
The 23-year-old native of Bakersfield, California, who trains with his father, Temo, and Omar Sanchez, feels he has come a long way since debuting in March 2024.
"I've developed a lot, learned about myself, to be more composed, as a professional we have a little more time," he explained. "Being patient with everything, taking everything in, being like a sponge, going into every fight like it's a world title fight. Taking everything super serious from camp and training to listening to my coaches."
During those training camps, he's sparred with many different fighters including WBC welterweight champion Ryan Garcia and his impending opponent Conor Benn, who meet on September 12, giving him a unique perspective.
"I can't take anything away from Benn, he comes forward throwing a lot of punches, but I've got to give it to Garcia," he said. "I think he's a little bit quicker and is going to give Benn more trouble, keeping him at bay."
Whilst prepping Garcia for his title win against Mario Barrios in February, he also honed his own skills before delivering a career-best win to date, a sixth-round knockout of Rock Myrthil the following month.
"I was looking to be a little bit more composed, taking more rounds, just keep Rock at my pace and control the fight," he said.
"We were getting into the sixth round, my coaches wanted me to pick it [the pace] up and get him out of there. I established my distance, the jab, until it was time to get him out of there. I put my combinations together, he didn't see the left hook coming, put him down and he wasn't able to recover from that."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZTYJN0Q1u8
The next step will be for Iriarte to move into 10-round class and it's one he welcomes before picking up regional titles and hopefully onto world level, where he has big plans.
"I'm here to make a statement, to make noise, I'm honestly coming for the world title," he insisted.
"At welterweight, I have my eyes set on a world championship. Any of those guys that have a belt, a year from now. I've already established myself as a contender, I'm really coming for all the guys with titles."
Iriarte's manager Robert Diaz once worked for Golden Boy and is well acquainted with guiding young fighters.
Naturally, he believes his latest client has all the ingredients to reach the top.
"I think his potential is tremendous," he said.
"You have a dedicated fighter that wants to be somebody special with the experience and talent, so there's the recipe for something special. To not only be a good fighter, but a star in the sport. His potential has no ceiling, he's very dedicated and lives in the gym, we're very proud of what he's doing.
Lagunas (19-9, 16 KOs) has been a professional since 2017.
The 30-year-old from Tijuana has spent most of his career at lightweight and junior welterweight. He has been found wanting when facing the likes of Omar Aguilar (KO 2), Jose Rosa (KO 3) and Dariial Kuchmenov (KO 4).
Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at elraincoat@live.co.uk and you can follow him on X@AnsonWainwr1ght
