ORLANDO — A pair of intriguing prospects in the lower weight divisions are on the Boxlab Promotions card featuring Kevin Brown vs. Juan Meza Angulo on Friday at Caribe Royale.

Kaipo Gallegos (9-0-1, 7 KOs) will face Alberto Mercado in an eight-round lightweight bout. Featherweight Roberto Gomez (7-0, 3 KOs) is scheduled to fight Sharone Carter in a six-rounder.

Gallegos' fight against Mercado (17-8-1, 4 KOs) will be a chance for the 19-year-old to take the next step in his career. The dynamic southpaw out of Las Vegas was an 18-time national champion as an amateur and is ranked No. 15 by the WBA at junior lightweight.

Mercado (17-8-1, 4 KOs) has faced junior lightweight titleholders Lamont Roach Jr., O’Shaquie Foster and No. 1-ranked WBA lightweight contender Floyd Schofield Jr. Mercado, 37, lost unanimous decisions against all three fighters.

Gallegos is coming off a dominant sixth-round stoppage of previously unbeaten Pedro Castaneda Castro on May 9.

“Putting in all the hard work each camp,” Gallegos told The Ring when asked what has helped his rapid rise. “Having my dad in my corner pushing me to my limits, training hard every day, being disciplined, being focused and showing that every fight, my skills and my talent is out there. I'm ready to show everybody who I am.”

Gallegos’ early success can be attributed in part to his sparring partners. He has worked with former two-division champion Devin Haney (32-0, 15 KOs), former WBO lightweight titleholder Keyshawn Davis (13-0, 9 KOs) and WBC lightweight champ Shakur Stevenson (24-0, 11 KOs), among others.

“Sharing a ring with talents like that, I can learn from what they do and put it in my game,” Gallegos said. “Taking little stuff that I learned from them and putting it in my game, it shows a lot. I try to do what they do, take a lot of little advice from each person that I spar with and put it in my game. “

Like Gallegos, Gomez entered the pro ranks after a strong amateur career in which he went 127-27 and was a four-time national champion. The 23-year-old from Dade City, Florida, also shared the ring with current WBO junior middleweight champion Xander Zayas as an amateur.

Gomez swept the three judges’ scorecards in his last fight, defeating Wilner Soto by unanimous decision on July 18. Still, he's hoping to showcase more aspects of his game against Carter (14-13-1, 3 KOs).

“I have a beautiful jab, and I wasn't using it like I should have,” Gomez told The Ring. “That's one thing I’ve been practicing more. I have beautiful footwork and should have used more footwork and more head movement. Those are the things that I took from that fight and practiced.

"Whatever I did in the practice, I did it in the sparring. And you fight the way you spar, and you spar the way you fight. That's my motto. It'll show what I've been working on on Sept. 19.”

Brown (7-0, 3 KOs) will defend his secondary WBA junior welterweight title against Angulo (9-2, 6 KOs).

Also on the card, former two-time heavyweight title challenger Luis Ortiz (34-3, 29 KOs) will be fighting for the first time since January of last year when he faces Phillip Penson (8-4-3, 2 KOs) in a scheduled eight-rounder.

Ortiz stopped journeyman Francisco Cordero in the first round in his last fight. That followed a unanimous decision loss to former champ Andy Ruiz in September 2022.