LAS VEGAS -- Gabriel Flores Jr., a 16-year-old junior lightweight with a strong amateur background and gripping backstory, will turn pro after signing a promotional contract with Top Rank, chairman Bob Arum announced on Wednesday.But because Flores, of Stockton, California, is so young, he cannot fight professionally in the United States yet. He wont have his first bout until at least May, when he turns 17 and can apply for a special permit in various states, including Nevada and California.Why did we sign a 16?-year-old -- I think is because the younger we sign fighters the longer the guys in Top Rank feel theyll have me around, the 84-year-old Arum joked at the final news conference for the Manny Pacquiao-Jessie Vargas undercard at the Wynn resort.I think hes the youngest fighter Top Rank has ever signed. Hes a tremendous prospect, ranked No. 1 in his weight division in the amateur ranks. He has great natural skills and ability. Our matchmakers believe that will make him a star.Flores, a member of the U.S. junior national team in 2015 and 2016, comes into the pro ranks having gone 91-7 as an amateur and having won the 2016 U.S. junior national championship at 138 pounds. In 2015, he claimed a silver medal at the world junior championships at 125 pounds and a gold medal in the same division at the U.S. junior national championships.Flores will enter the pro ranks having endured much in his life.I know a lot of people have high expectations of me and I plan on exceeding all of them, said Flores, who started boxing at age 7. It wasnt easy getting to this point. I lost my mother at the age of 12. It was gang-violence-related. It took my mother away from me. She got shot in the back. They said if she would have made it she would have been paralyzed. She didnt make it, but right now, today, shes looking down on me and shes smiling right now.Flores mother, Juanita Maldonado, was shot while attending a childs birthday party in Stockton on March 17, 2013. She died the following day at age 35. Four others were also shot, reportedly by three men, though no arrests have been made.I could have just gave up on my dreams but giving up on my dreams would have been giving up on my mother, Flores said. Im just grateful to be in this position and want to make her proud.Flores said he wants to be a role model to kids in Stockton, a city gripped by gang violence.My mom wasnt the only one I lost in my family, said Flores, one of six children. I lost my uncle to gang violence. Thats why I look forward to fighting in my hometown so I can promote anti-gang-violence. I want the kids to know right from wrong and the consequences. I want to stop the violence in the city I was born in and the city I love.Flores is trained and managed by his father, Gabriel Flores Sr., whose own involvement in gangs landed him in prison for a stretch. He turned his back on gang life years ago and also trains Top Rank junior lightweight prospect Andy Vences (16-0, 10 KOs). Flores adviser is Rick Mirigian, who also handles blue-chip junior welterweight prospect and 2012 U.S. Olympian Jose Ramirez.Flores has ring experience sparring with quality fighters, including featherweight world titleholder Oscar Valdez and junior featherweight contender Jessie Magdaleno, both of whom have matches on the Pacquiao-Vargas undercard.Id say Im a pure boxer. I like to keep my distance and use my jab and my straight punches, but if it comes down to it, I can fight on the inside, Flores said. I can do anything it takes to win. 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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- The four golfers?in contention for the?Race to Dubai?title were upstaged by Lee Westwood in the first round of the DP World Tour Championship on Thursday.Westwood shot a 6-under 66 in swirling winds to take a one-stroke lead at the European Tours season-ending event in Dubai.Some days you feel like theres a lot of birdies out there but today I think was a pretty stiff test, Westwood said.Danny Willett and Alex Noren were best-placed of the players bidding to finish the season as Europes No. 1 after shooting 71s on the Earth course of Jumeirah Golf Estates, while Henrik Stenson -- the leader in the Race to Dubai standings -- shot 72.Rory McIlroy started the week as the big outsider to win the Race to Dubai and his chances are even slimmer after shooting 75, ending a run of 28 straight rounds of par or lower at the World Tour Championship.Should Stenson win, he will be Europes No. 1 for the second time in four years. He could even finish atop the standings with a top-eight finish, provided Willett doesnt win or finish second and Noren doesnt win.The 43-year-old WWestwood, who was the winner of the inaugural edition of World Tour Championship in 2009, made just one bogey -- on No.dddddddddddd 12 -- on a day when winds made scoring difficult. He had three birdies on the front nine and four on the back nine.It was all good, really. I played lovely, said Westwood, playing without his regular caddie Billy Foster who is out with a knee injury. Hit a lot of fairways, a lot of good iron shots, putted nicely and, you know, didnt make too many mistakes out there.Frances Julien Quesne and Belgiums Nicolas Colsaerts were tied for second place after 67s, while No. 12 Spaniard Sergio Garcia was tied fourth after a 68, along with Italian Francesco Molinari and Dutchman Joost Luiten.Stenson made just one birdie and one bogey, being denied a closing birdie on the 18th after his putt from six feet lipped out.It wasnt my best day. I played very average, Stenson said. Id say the good putts I hit didnt go in, and the bad ones certainly didnt. Discount NFL Jerseys Discount NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale Jerseys 2019 NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys Wholesale ' ' '