The education of prospect Daniel Barrera continues.

With advice from one of boxing’s living legends, the unbeaten prospect hopes to graduate to the upper echelon of the flyweight division.

Barrera will face Christian Robles tonight at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, California. The eight-round bout will precede the main event bout between unbeaten junior middleweight Callum Walsh and Carlos Ortiz.

Both fights will stream live on UFC Fight Pass (10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT).

At Thursday’s weigh-in, Barrera weighed in at 112 pounds. Robles came in at 111.4 pounds.

The Barrera-Robles fight was elevated to co-main event status after the Karlos Balderas-Gilberto Zarate fight was canceled after Zarate came in significantly above the 137-pound contracted weight.

Barrera (6-0-1, 4 knockouts), who resides in Riverside, California, will face Robles in a crossroads clash between Los Angeles-area prospects. Robles (8-2, 3 KOs) may have lost his last two fights, but Barrera is not overlooking the 27-year-old.

“I’m definitely motivated,” Barrera told The Ring on Monday afternoon. “Definitely motivated because I’ve seen who he’s fought, including an Olympian. He also fought against a fighter with a good resume. To be honest, people were asking me if this was like an L.A. rivalry. It’s not like that. To me, it’s just another opponent that we’re going to get out of the way and go on to the next.”

The 22-year-old has developed into a top prospect, working with Southern California-based trainer Al Franco. He is also a regular sparring partner of former four-weight division world titleholder Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez, who has his training camp in the Coachella Valley area of Southern California.

Gonzalez was ringside for Barrera’s previous fight on February 23, a second round knockout win over Jonathan Almacen. That fight also took place in Santa Ynez.

After countless rounds of sparring that have benefitted and improved his skill set, Barrera also gravitates to the advice given by Gonzalez.

“Seeing someone that big come out and watch me fight and also talk to me after the fights, giving me some pointers, not only on the boxing side of it, but he actually told my Mom to keep me out of trouble, keep me away from certain things because I have a good future,” said Barrera, who is managed by Ray Chaparro. “It’s very good hearing stuff like that from him, especially him. He’s a big name in our division. He’s the one that really brought eyes to our division. To have someone like him speak highly of me is great.”

Tonight will mark Barrera’s third fight of 2024, which included a one-sided decision victory over Hector Valdes Pena in his last bout on April 20.

Barrera believes in the mantra of ‘Activity matters,’ as it has allowed him to develop his skill-set. After tonight’s fight, Barrera hopes to fight at least twice more this year, barring any injury.

“Realistically, we can get, for sure, five fights,” said Barrera. “No doubt about it, four. If we can get five in there, that would be great, depending how the fights go. Now, we’re doing eight rounders. Camps are a little longer. Bodies need a little bit more time to recover after camps and the fights.

“As a fighter, staying consistent like that, consecutively fighting, I think it’s great. You’re not wasting time getting into shape, you’re not wasting time getting your timing back, you’re not wasting your time getting all that fat off of you. You don’t miss a step. You may get your timing off just a little bit but it doesn’t take long to get it back after a week or two off of training and right back in the gym and getting ready for the (next fight). So I prefer staying busy. I feel like, because we stayed busy this year, no setbacks, no injuries, no surgeries, anything like that. I feel I’ve improved a good amount in a short amount of time as a fighter.”

Barrera has fought most of his young career between 112 and 115 pounds. His recent fights have taken place closer to junior bantamweight.

The fight against Robles is being fought at flyweight, a weight division Barrera hopes to stay at for a while, where he could contend and eventually fight for and win a world title belt.

“Originally, our plan was to start (my pro career) at 112 (pounds). Everytime we try to get fights at 112, everyone wants to (fight) at 115. I’m not sure why. This fight against Robles will be at 112. The goal is definitely to be a contender at 112 and get a title at this weight. When we’re ready to move up to 115, we will move up to 115, do the same at 112, then move up to 118. I don’t expect us to move up anytime fast, to move up to 118, permanently. Probably another year or two. Probably two years. I’m still growing into my body. I have to be patient and see where my body takes me.”

Barrera continues to make strides as a fighter since his pro debut in July 2022. Part of his development has been to see things through his perspective rather than his trainer or manager.

A win over Robles, along with his development, will validate Barrera’s progress in the ring.

“I’ve learned a lot of patience in the ring. That’s been one of the main things I had to learn as a fighter. I learned, as a fighter, you’re not going to knock everyone out. Which is good because when you get all six rounds, you get all the experience you can get. Every round counts as a pro. You can be 10-0, 10 KOs, but you’re not going to have the same amount of experience as a 10-0 (fighter) that has no KOs because he went the distance every fight.

“I can say patience, ring IQ, boxing IQ, I’ve started to see things on my own. As a fighter, you need to experiment things and if it doesn’t work, then try it a different way. Don’t get discouraged when things don’t work right away. I’ve learned a lot of patience, ring IQ, boxing IQ, just being active has really helped me really focus on my craft. I feel good.”

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]

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