Frankie Gomez-Mauricio Herrera fight pits an unbeaten prospect against a willing veteran

Urgency is a fighter’s fuel.

For Southland boxers Frankie Gomez and Mauricio Herrera, the excessive amount of pressure on each to win their Saturday welterweight bout on the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez-Amir Khan HBO pay-per-view undercard is expected to create a compelling battle.

Gomez, 24, is the unbeaten prospect from East Los Angeles who is mentored by his promoter, Golden Boy Promotions’ Oscar De La Hoya, and has yet to realize his potential.

Herrera, 35, is the willing veteran facing perhaps a final chance to remain in title contention.

Gomez and De La Hoya not only share the same roots, they share the same birthday. The former world champion has been understanding and patient of the young fighter’s criminal missteps that have included jail time in 2012 for theft and a 2014 petty theft case that led to a one-year probation term.

Those transgressions left Gomez deservedly in the narrative of a wasted opportunity one year ago this month, when he missed weight by a staggering 6 1/2 pounds for a $50,000 payday against veteran Humberto Soto on the undercard of Alvarez-James Kirkland in Houston.

“It was going to be his highest purse, but regardless of the purse, it was the opportunity — the fans who were going to see him that never did,” Golden Boy matchmaker Robert Diaz said. “We had a heart to heart, told him, ‘You want to keep at the lifestyle and level that you’re at, keep doing what you’re doing? The only way you’re going to change it is you have to want to. I can’t want it more than you.’ ”

Gomez admits he was distracted before the canceled Soto fight, but explains it was for a sound reason and part of his search for stability: the legal pursuit of full custody of his 5-year-old daughter, Alizey.

“Everything piled up on him,” Gomez’s older brother, Tony, said. “He had to go to court three times a week all through his [Soto] camp. … He found out he won his daughter in the days after the fight.”

Gomez (20-0, 13 knockouts) has won two 10-round decisions in the past six months at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio and has impressed all around him with a sharp focus on his craft.

Marvin Somodio, Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach’s assistant at Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, said, “This is going to be the best Frankie Gomez ever. He’s on weight, and he’s sparred with the same partners Manny [Pacquiao] had. Frankie Gomez is the best prospect Freddie has. He beats everyone at the gym. He’s a very mean guy and has natural stamina. World-class fighter, and soon he’ll be a world champion.”

Gomez is positioning to return to junior-welterweight, where an impressive victory over Herrera (22-5, seven KOs) could leave him in consideration for someone like the July 23 pay-per-view winner between 140-pound champions Terence Crawford and Gomez’s stablemate, Viktor Postol.

“I’m fully committed to the game,” Gomez said. “Houston, it opened up my eyes. I’m training hard to accomplish the things I want to be — a world champion — and I’m getting closer. My power, speed, motivation and discipline are all better than they’ve ever been.”

De La Hoya said Tuesday, “I was really ticked off [at Frankie], but I told him, ‘Look it, I am not going to give up on you.’ I know what he’s capable of, and we expect to see that Saturday.”

Riverside’s Herrera balked at a rushed title shot at Crawford earlier this year after sustaining cuts in his July 11 technical decision over Hank Lundy. He was supposed to fight former 140-pound title challenger Lucas Matthysse on Saturday, but Matthysse wasn’t recovered from an injury.

In Gomez, Herrera said he’ll press to explore the depth of his foe’s desire.

“To me, [the past issues] tell me, ‘Is he mentally ready?’ When you’re young, you don’t take things so seriously,’ Herrera said. “He had opportunities. Maybe that says something of how well he’ll be prepared when the rounds get deeper. You test him, you make him work, you frustrate him. By the final rounds, he has to decide to tough it out or go down.”

Herrera, who’ll turn 36 on May 24, confronts Gomez while in a frustrating 4-4 rut in his past eight fights, which included a 2014 majority decision loss to unbeaten Danny Garcia in a junior-welterweight title fight.

He didn’t have an answer for what he would do if boxing wasn’t a career choice.

“You’re bringing me down,” he said. “If I stop and think too much,” about the desperation, “it’ll take me away from the buzz I’ve got going now as the guy who’s getting robbed, the guy who can’t catch his break. I’m rolling with that. I’m in a zone. I’m hoping this fight will be my moment. That’s how I motivate myself: ‘OK, this is the fight that will bring me everything else.’ ”

Herrera’s first pro fight was at 27. He trained alone at times in the garage of his mother’s home and recalls agreeing to make his debut fight against an opponent who was 160 pounds on fight night, while Herrera was closer to 140.

“I didn’t know the business, took the fight on one-week notice,” Herrera said. “I just thought I was supposed to say, ‘Yes,’ and that feeling’s never gone away. It’s almost like I can’t say no. Saying yes brought me here.”

Diaz notices, calling Herrera “a promoter’s dream.”

“Herrera, for a reason, is called ‘The Teacher,’ and if Frankie’s not ready to graduate, he’s going to flunk you,” Diaz said. “He not only never says no to a fight, he only wants to fight the best. He’s a throwback, [and] people remember him for his fights. The guys with beautiful records sometimes don’t take challenges.

“This fight is very important for both. For Frankie, it’s to get the respect from the fans and the public and media, to beat Mauricio Herrera and go on to bigger things. For Mauricio, it’s a higher risk fight. Is he going to get the credit he deserves? After Lucas pulled out, he didn’t say, ‘Wait a minute, why Frankie?’ He said, ‘Let’s do it.’ ”