The Mysterious UNAPPROVAL of Juan Tapia

Juan "Johnny Blaze" Tapia of Brownsville,  had to pull out of a massive fight. A fight was scheduled for May 22 with former two-time Olympic gold medalist Robisery Ramirez of Cuba due to a rotator cuff injury and Bicep tear. It was perhaps the biggest fight of Tapia's young and promising career but it was a fight that needed to be taken at 100%. It's not a situation unique to Tapia, unified welterweight world champion Errol Spence just had to back out of the biggest money fight of his career, a legacy fight, with Manny Pacquiao due to an injury. Injuries are a part of the sport, and a fighter can't be knocked for not fighting any fight while injured, especially a fight of that magnitude. Tapia knew other opportunities would present themselves. That opportunity was November 5th in Las Vegas against  Adam Lopez on the Mikaela Mayer vs. Maiva Hamadouche card. It was a great opportunity against a big name, on a major card, and most importantly a very, very winnable fight for the highly skilled and quick-fisted Texan. 

Tapia eagerly signed the contract, started camp, and got to work.  Sparring with fellow Rio Grande Valley native and super bantamweight world champion Brandon Figueroa as well as fellow world title challenger Miguel Flores of Houston. Two fighters, head and shoulders better than Adam Lopez. Tapia was getting excellent sparring and holding his own preparing for the fight and the victory that would change the trajectory of his career. A win on an ESPN aired Top Rank card is the win the Brownsvillian, needed to get his name mentioned among the world-class elite fighters in the world and get himself in the world title discussion. Tapia, a father of two, because of his hard work, willingness to pay his dues and remain patient, had a clear path to changing his life and taking himself to the next level. 

That's where things get strange. Top Rank sent out a press release saying Adam Lopez was scheduled to fight fringe contender Adan Ochoa, who is best known for losing every moment of his fight to Edward Vazquez of Fort Worth, before scoring a thudding knockdown, that Vazquez recovered from got up and dominated every moment of the fight on his way to a UD victory. It was an intriguing fight, that aired on ESPN as part of the Top Rank summer series in "The Bubble" in which Ochoa was clearly outmanned and outgunned. That's his best performance, a clear loss to a young prospect. Several media publications picked up the press release, including Fight Mag https://www.fightmag.com.au/2021/10/02/mikaela-mayer-vs-maiva-hamadouche-date-set-for-nov-5-in-vegas-tickets/ and published the news of Lopez-Ochoa. That's strange as Tapia had a signed contract and was in the midst of training camp. Two days later and out of nowhere the Nevada State Athletic Commission unapproved Tapia for the fight. According to Team Tapia the reason given by Jeff Mullen, of the NSAC, was that Tapia “wasn't at that level yet” and “wasn't seasoned enough.”

The comments by Mullen are beyond bizarre and defy logic as the same commission approved Tapia to fight Shakur Stevenson in 2018, much earlier in Tapia's career. Stevenson is one of the most skilled and dominant fighters in the sport who went on to easily win a world title the next year. By any metric Stevenson is a far, far superior fighter to Adam Lopez. That's not to disrespect Lopez who is a fan-friendly warrior who loves to scrap. However, Stevenson is a special, unique, talent who is among a handful of fighters who are earmarked as the future of the sport. So the commission thought a much younger Tapia was ready to fight Stevenson who was closing in on a world title fight as well as Cuban sensation Ramirez, who is also a far, far more skilled and a whole another level from Lopez. Both of those fights the NSAC had no issue with approving. However, after approving The Lopez-Tapia fight, the NSAC decided to go back, for no reason, and reconsider its approval of Juan Tapia. They then assured Tapia's team that this time, unlike when they approved him, this time their decision was final. 

The NSAC stated that they have not as of yet approved the Lopez-Ochoa fight at this time. Ochoa's best win came back in late 2018 when he outpointed Edgar Cantu of Laredo, Texas. Tapia's best win came on a major card- Spence-Garcia perhaps the biggest card of 2020 when he outpointed the house fighter, Fernando Garcia at Cowboy Stadium, it was that win that propelled him into bigger fights. Fights like the Stevenson fight or the Ramirez fight. Fights Tapia has earned the old-fashioned way. Going into enemy territory and upsetting the house fighter, what he did against Garcia, what he was planning on and preparing on doing in the Lopez fight until he was mysteriously unapproved for the fight he was already approved for, just days after Top Rank mysteriously named Ochoa as the opponent for Lopez and not Tapia who was already contractually obligated to the Lopez fight.

Vazquez Continues to Impress in Comeback

Leading up to his fight in Mesquite, Texas, Middleweight prospect  Marco Vazquez was asked if, 50+ fight veteran Ulisses Jimenez was the toughest opponent of his comeback following a more than three-year layoff?  Vazquez, of Grand Prairie, responded: "it's the biggest test of my whole career." Well if that was the biggest test  Vazquez certainly earned an A+. Scoring with a vicious uppercut that dropped and finished off Jimenez in just 34 seconds. A vicious and perfectly placed shot that would have stopped nearly anyone moving his record to 6-1 (3). Vazquez was a highly touted prospect when he made his pro debut back in March of 2015, on the undercard of a Maurice Hooker card at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center in Dallas. A career that looked derailed just a year later, after an impressive 3-0 start, the Grand Prairie native took a shocking L to Jon Bullock. The loss led to a three-year layoff.  Vazquez is now just 25-years-old, and currently campaigning at middleweight but says he can still get down to 154 and plans on fighting there in the future, he has come a long way in rejuvenating his image. He has in just his fourth comeback fight molded himself into a main event fighter and his future is once again as bright as it was the night he stopped Warren Stewart on that Maurice Hooker undercard. 

The Boxing Showcase cards also featured Vazquez highly touted stablemate  Jake "The Snake" Ysasi outclassed fellow unbeaten fighter Jerrion Campbell of Jacksonville, Texas.  In a fight where someone's "O" had to go, Ysasi was certainly going to preserve displaying a picture-perfect jab and controlling the distance with the stick. "The Snake" struck like a Cobra with quick right hands. Ysasi looked sharp and composed beyond his years, in just his second pro bout, controlling distance and picking his shots like a veteran delivering an uppercut midway through the second round that stunned Campbell. Ysasi against stunned Campbell just moments before the bell with a picture-perfect left hook ending the scheduled four-rounder with an exclamation point and cruised to the points victory moving his record to 2-0 and handing Jerrion Campbell now 2-1 his first lost. 

In the evening co-main event  Refugio “Cuco” Montellano, who trains out of Del Bosque Boxing Gym, boxed circles around Juan Castaneda. creating a moving target that Castaneda, of Mexico, just couldn’t find. Cuco scored with perfectly timed counter shots and carried the decision by scores of 40-36x2 and a way to close 38-38 Even

The other young upstarts put on sensational performances  Omar Urieta, of Tyler, Texas, secured his first win a first-round knockout victory. Powered behind a tremendous left hook that staggered his opponent, Czyz Harrison, and then followed up with a barrage of power shots to secure the stoppage at  1:38 of the first stanza to move his record to 1-1 (1). 

Additionally, Keven Soto, of Dallas, dropped Orlando Colins with a perfectly placed left hook early in the opening round. The next three rounds were simply Collins serving as very tough and durable target practice for Soto's right hand. Who dominated and strolled to a unanimous decision victory by lopsided scores of 40-35x2 and 39-36  

In other action "El Catcho De oro" Merin Zalazar scored a sensational second-round KO  and Fernando Vasquez made his pro debut a successful one. He and Moises Sixto Gomez traded power shots in a phone booth over four high-paced back and forth non-stop rounds. Vazquez a southpaw battered his man against the ropes and was relentless over four competitive but clear rounds and scored in his favor 40-36x3

Soto dropped him with a left hook early in round 1. Making Target practice with the right-hand laser-like battering him again as the bell rang to end the second 40-35x2 and 39-36

Rick Medina and other Prospects Shine in Floresville

San Antonio natives Joshua Franco currently holds the WBA 115-pound title, Mario Barrios recently held the WBA 140-pound title and Bam Rodriguez will challenge for the 108-pound world title. Cementing Alamo City's legacy as one of boxing's premier hot spots of young talent. After those names, there is a litany of upstarts who look to continue that legacy. Of all the young fighters 20-Year-Old "El Castigo" Rick Medina may be the brightest of all those stars. The first fighter exclusively signed to Team Morones Boxing Promotions improved his record to 11-0 (6)  Saturday night passing the biggest test of his young career.  The San Antonio blue-chipper took on veteran and ABF champ Rafael Reyes at the Floresville, Event Center.  Reyes was coming off a career-best win a first-round stoppage of undefeated prospect, Ignacio Chairez. Medina boxed beautifully firing the jab off his back foot. He controlled the pace of the fight as Reyes continued to press forward and tried to rough up Medina even losing a point for hitting Medina to the back of the head. El Castigo, however,  wouldn't take the bait. Fighting beautifully he was able to keep Reyes off of him and the few times Reyes was able to get in close, Medina more than held his own. He would slow Reyes down and get back to boxing and moving in securing the lopsided 8-round unanimous decision by scores of 80-71,79-72 & 78-73. 

In the evening's co-main event another one of San Antonio's young upstart prospects, Welterweight Sebastian "C-Bass" Rodriguez also took a massive step up against the naturally bigger and undefeated Jorge Hernandez. After three fairly even round Rodriguez seized control of the fight in the fourth round backing Hernandez up with vicious bodywork. Then firing off vicious combinations when he had his opponent backed up against the ropes. Hernandez fought well coming forward in the early stages but was broken down by the body attack and became a stationary target for C-Bass in the second half of the fight as Rodriguez took a majority decision by scores of  59-55 x2 and 57-57 even, to improve his record to 5-0. 

The rest of the undercard featured a brilliant performance by super flyweight prospect Guillermo Gutierrez, who moved to 2-0 (1) by brutally beating down  Gabriel Guerrero. Showing off the entire arsenal Guiterrez came out aggressive landing vicious hooks to the head and body. He then slowed down and landed with pinpoint accuracy from the outside. Switching from the conventional to southpaw stance seamlessly throughout the duration of the bout. He nearly stopped a very brave Guerrero in the third and after a long look from the ref and doctor was allowed to continue. Guiterrez stepped on the gas and landed a left hook, straight hand combination that dropped Guerrero and brought the ref in to waive the bout off 18 seconds into the fourth round. 

Also,  Oge Harwell, Destiny Jones, Ramon Acosta, and Jeremaine White all were victories in their pro debuts. Harwell, outpointed all-action, fan-favorite slugger Adam Salazar who fell to 0-3, Ramon Acosta destroyed Jose Rodriguez in under two rounds. Destiny Jones put on a boxing clinic in taking a unanimous decision over Janina Lopez. Jeremaine White dropped and dominated Sean Holcombe on his way to a unanimous decision victory.

El Relampago Shines on FS1 Card

"El Relampago"  Omar Juarez of Brownsville bounced back beautifully Sunday night at the Mechanics Bank Arena in Bakersfield, California. Rebounding off the only loss of his career, a very close and controversial loss, to rugged, Filipino, All Rivera in Minnesota back in June. A loss many including his management team thought he clearly won. The decision went one way and not the other and the highly touted prospect from the Rio Grande Valley had the first blemish on his record. 

What came next, however,  would be of the utmost importance. How would Juarez, who also serves as a motivational speaker in the Rio Grande Valley area, respond to adversity. If that was the question El Relampago answered that question emphatically. Juarez came out like gangbusters and rocked his opponent, Jairo Lopez, just over a minute into the fight with an overhand right and followed up with another straight right hand for good measure and then a third. What happened in the first minute and change of the fight would be indicative of what happened the rest of the night. The Texan would not look back remaining in control throughout. Staying cool and composed Juarez stayed on the outside in the early stages piling up the points. Well ahead on the cards by the fourth Juarez decided to sit and establish his power more. Midway through the fourth Juarez landed split the guard with a perfect uppercut snapping Lopez's head back and then fired off a barrage of hooks and right hands that kept Lopez in a world of trouble. The beatdown continued in the fifth as Juarez now fighting off the front foot landed a massive straight right hand that dropped Lopez. It looked like it may end that fight, however a brave Lopez, of Nuevo Leon, Mexico somehow beat the count and continued.  The writing was already on the wall however and Juares on the behest of his trainer Rick Nunez, remained on the aggressive, not gun shy or cautious at all coming off his first career knockdown and loss. Juarez fought the remainder of the fight on the inside unleashing thudding combinations that scored to the head and body. Stunning Lopez from long range and then beating him up on the inside and backing the aggressive Lopez up, Juarez cruised to an impressive unanimous decision victory by scores of 80-71, and 79-72x2 to move his record to 12-1 (5). 

The 22-year-old Brownsville native is consistently mentioned among the best young fighters in the world. He is time and again featured on the FOX and FS1 broadcasts as one of the best PBC prospects under the age of 23. With this performance the Brownsvillian reestablishes himself as the force he was considered to be before the controversial loss this past summer and sets himself up for bigger fights in the future. Juarez will likely fight one more time in 2021 before moving up in competition in 2022 and fighting the premier names in the jr welterweight division.

Del Rio Prospect Shines in the Capital

Texas has long been a hotbed for boxing, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio, The Rio Grande Valley have all produced multiple world champions in recent years. The tiny border town of Del Rio and its population of barely 35,000 has not really made its mark on the Texas boing landscape. Until now. Hard-hitting, undefeated welterweight prospect Hector Coronado scored a sensational one-punch knockout on an absolutely thudding left hook in the second round of Saturday night's fight in Austin, Texas. Fighting a much taller and somewhat awkward opponent in Daniel Wright. Using the first round as a feeling-out process, the Del Rio native quickly exploded with the vicious left hook which came seemingly out of nowhere that dropped Wright like a building collapsing on himself to move Coronado to 6-0(5). Coronado who also serves as a firefighter in Del Rio took the fight above his natural weight class. Typically a welterweight Coronado did not shy away from fighting at 154. Saying postfight "the guy was huge and caught me a couple of times and we adapted and thank God we got the job done"  The height and size advantage seemed to have no impact on the much more skillful Coronado who does plan on moving back down to 147 in his next fight and hopes to be back in the ring in late October.

Additionally. two other up-and-comers had star-making performances. Malik "One Punch" Calhoun, who is originally from Kansas City, Missouri, and now fights out of FHG gym with coach Ray Barrera, in Fort Worth. A gym that has produced the likes of John Vera, Edward Vazquez, and Jesse Angel Hernandez in recent years. One-Punch once again lived up to his nickname and scored a spectacular one-punch knockout a body shot that knocked the air out of his opponent Alejandro Heredia and left him on all fours for the full 10-count plus several additional seconds. Calhoun moved his record to 2-0 (2) with both knockouts coming by way of one of one-punch knockout. 

In the main event of the night in the Lightheavyweight division (175 lbs) at 4 rounds, the Nigerian-based Nosa Divine who now fights out of  Austin prevailed via unanimous decision. Outworking and outhustling DeQuint Hill, Hill rallied late in the final round scoring with a scorching right hand with about 40 seconds left in the final round. However, it wasn't enough as Divine's snappy right jab and volume was enough to win what was a strategic affair by scores of 39-36 on all three cards

With any great night of boxing, it's not without its controversy as Brandin DeSapin of Fort Worth who suffered two brutal low blows had to suffer again and settle for a draw in a fight nearly everyone thought he won handily. Outboxing and throwing beautiful double-left hooks and catching his aggressive opponent, Luis Fernandez, with hard check hooks. Fernandez goes to 1-0-1 and DeSapin is 0-0-1, who, rightfully upset protested for a rematch. The Fort Worthian was an amateur standout who has an amateur victory over Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn Davis. DeSpain had already advanced to the next round when Fernandez failed to make weight.

The rest of the results of the tournament were as follows in the heavyweight division  Dionardo Minor advanced with a unanimous decision victory over Vercel Webster. In a middleweight bout, Davelle Smith stopped Ricky Evans in the first round. In the lightweight division Atanacio "Nacho"  Perez scored a hard-fought majority decision over Nathaniel Bonner.

The next stage of The Big Belt Championship will be October 1st in mesquite and will be headlined by middleweight Marco Vazquez and welterweight Jake Ysasi

Bam Rodriguez to fight For Light Flyweight World Title

San Antonio is chock-filled with high-level blue-chip fighters. Mario Barrios, Josh Franco, Hector Tanjara, Ramon Cardenas, Kendo Castaneda, Gregory Morales,  and the listguys on and on. Whenever any of the Alamo City fighters are asked who will be the next fighter from San Antonio to capture a world title the response is quick and unanimous. Without hesitation, they respond Bam Rodriguez.  Rodriguez, an undefeated 108-pound prospect 13-0 (9), was our 2020 Prospect of the Year after scoring three knockouts in his three 2020 fights. The latter two of them were in the MGM Bubble on Top Rank cards and the first came at The Star in Frisco just prior to the pandemic on the undercard of Mikey Garcia vs Jessie Vargas. 

To give context to just how special the San Antonian is both Vergil Ortiz and multi-time trainer of the year award winner have both said that Bam is the best fighter in the camp. Both the legendary future hall of famer trainer and Ortiz, who is considered among the best and most highly touted prospects in the sport, both agree that Rodriguez is the best fighter in the camp. A camp that features Mikey Garcia, Vergil Ortiz, Jose Carlos Ramirez as well as Josh Franco, and countless others. That is incredibly high praise for the 21-year-old. Rodriguez has been waiting for a world title shot for quite some time, when asked about a world title shot and who he would like to fight he said  "My title shot is long overdue whenever one of them agrees to step in the ring with me, I'll be more than glad to do that." He is actually correct, despite being just 21-years-old his name has been mentioned in world title discussions since at least March of 2019 when he disposed of rugged veteran Rauf Aghayev in just three rounds on the undercard of Spence-Mikey Garcia. It's been two and a half years of waiting patiently. However, his time is coming.

The 21-year-old phenom is on the verge of becoming a world title and has been since he was a teenager. The COVID pandemic has delayed his title shot but that delay is over. Bam will get his shot to join big brother, Joshua Franco as a WBA world champion next month when he takes on Esteban Bermudez on October 16th on the undercard of Mikey Garcia vs Sandor Martin in Fresno, California at Chukchansi Park, home of the Fresno Grizzlies. Bermudez captured his version of the WBA belt back in May when he upset Venezuelan KO artist Carlos Canizales. This will be the first defense of the title.  Also on the card, Elwin Soto, who holds the "Super" version of the WBA belt will defend against Puerto Rican veteran and former world title challenger Jonathan Gonzalez. Setting up a logical mega-fight between the winners.

Nick Molina Shines As Boxing in Laredo Returns

20-year old and  Laredoan and undefeated Jr. middleweight, Nick Molina, was planning on attending Fight Fest 9/11 in his native Laredo as a spectator watching his friends and local fighters throw down in the return of boxing to the Gateway City. Until he received a phone call just over a week ago, offering him a fight on the card. The catch was he needed to fight a touted fighter from Weslaco, Peter Balderas jr, who would be making his pro debut three weight classes above where he typically fights and had the WBC Super Bantamweight Champ Brandon Figueroa by his side. The fighter that Molina is, he gladly accepted.

The fearless but very undersized Molina stepped into the ring and just seconds into the bout got clipped on the chin and dropped. He calmly got up and showed incredible composure for a 20-year-old veteran of just three previous fights. Firing off the jab and he never lost focus. Out boxing Balderas from the outside he can see his larger opponent softening up. Snapping his head back with laser-like right hands. The first round saw Molina picking himself up off the canvas and within the next three minutes absolutely seize control of the fight. He picked up the pace and really started breaking him down Balderas in the second stanza. Clearly slowing down Bladeras threw a sloppy hook that Molina countered perfectly with a right hand that sent his opponent flailing into the ropes. Molina jumped on his wounded opponent like a dog on fear unleashing a barrage of power shots that put Balderas down and brought the referee in to call a halt to the bout with just seconds left in the second round. Molina jumped up three weight classes on a week's notice got himself up off the canvas and delivered a career-best performance securing a second-round TKO victory to move his record to 4-0 (4).

The rest of the card featured Danie "The Disciple" l Villareal of Zapata, Texas scoring an impressive third-round knockout over a game opponent in Ramiro Balli.  Villareal outboxed his opponent easily firing off a shotgun-like jab and broke his overmatched opponent down with a ferocious body attack and straight right hands to the head. He scored with a perfect left hook that staggered Balli. The Disciple unleashed a whirlwind of power shots leaving his opponents helpless against the ropes and unable to continue as the ref waived the bout off giving Villareal his fifth win in five pr fights. Villareal will headline the next FIght Fest, on October 29th in his hometown of Zapata. 

Alex "The Bazooka" Ramos bounced back nicely from his first career loss to blast out an outmatched veteran by the name of Hector Gutierrez, a veteran of 18 fights who hails from Mission, Texas and scored a vicious one-sided TKO victory. There was also an upset in the building as San Antonio-based Robert Ledesma, who has been in the ring with several world-class fighters, including Max Ornelas, Ray Ximenez, Juan Tapia, and Bam Rodriguez but he finally got his win over a big named fighter. The beneficiary of two very controversial knockdowns secured the victory over Cesar Garcia of Laredo by scores of 38-36 on all three cards. Ledesma moves his record to 3-7 while Garcia whose only other loss was to the prospect of the year Bam Rodriguez, falls to 11-2.

Two other local fighters were able to secure the first win of their professional careers. Jaime Gueverra of Laredo unleashed a ferocious body attack and broke down Austin Rivas of McAllen to secure the victory in his pro debut. Additionally, Oscar Barrera also from the Gateway City picked up the first win of his pro career. In Barrera's other two professional bouts he fought Steve Garagarza both times in two very close and contentious battles. Settling for a draw in the first and suffering a decision loss in the second. He bounced back from that and outlasted Manuel Lerma. taking a majority decision by scores of 40-36, 39-37 in his favor with the third judge scoring 38-38 even.

Omar Juarez Returns

The boxing scene in the Rio Grande Valley has been absolutely on fire as of late, and there is no better or more touted prospect than 22-year-old  "El Relampago" Omar Juarez of Brownsville. The South Texas native sports an 11-1 (5) record and is set to return September 19th in Bakersfield, California. A PBC on Fox card that will feature the brightest young stars in the PBC Stable. The network had previously mentioned El Relampago as one of the best prospects under the age of 23 and every time the young upstart steps in the ring the boxing world takes note. 

Juarez will battle 30-year-old hard-hitting Mexican veteran, Jairo Lopez, 26-13 (17) in an eight-round affair. Lopez most recently fought back in August in Atlanta suffering a UD loss to Anthony Peterson. Juarez is looking to bounce back from the lone defeat of his career. A close controversial majority decision loss to Filipino veteran  All Rivera. Juarez suffered the first knockdown of his career in the ninth round but certainly seemed to win enough of the early rounds to carry a points victory. Two of the judges disagreed with the boxing public and most ringside observers and awarded the fight to Rivera.  

The judges' verdict was nothing less than shocking as nearly everyone thought the young Texan had certainly did enough to pass the first serious test of his young career.  Juarez's team reassured him that he had done enough to get the win and that the judges got it wrong. His trainer thought they had won seven rounds and "beat him [Rivera] better than Rances Barthelemy did." Barthelemy is a former two-division world champion who beat Rivera via UD in Rivera's previous fight. Juarez who also serves as a motivational speaker to the youth in the Rio Grande Valley said that he needs to "practice what I preach and come back from this...mentally and emotionally I'm 100% I'm ready to come back.

Boxing is Back In Laredo!

Laredo, the Gateway City, is quickly becoming one of the hotbeds of Texas boxing. The city that gave the boxing world the legendary Canizales brothers is again producing potential world-level talent at an alarming rate. Jorge Castaneda pulled a major upset over Otha Jones III on a Matchroom Card, Josh Juarez put on a masterclass performance on a Golden Boy card, and Jaime Jasso, started his career with two wins over really impressive highly experienced fighters and then recently dropped a very competitive decision to Floy Diaz, who is perhaps Top Ranks most regarded young prospect. Jasso was brought in to be an outmatched, undefeated opponent that was supposed to make Diaz look good. That was anything but the case as Jasso impressed and fought Diaz tooth and nail for the scheduled four rounds. 

what all these young South Texans have in common is they built themselves up on the Triple-A Promotions Fright Fest series in Laredo. Fight Fest 20 went down in Laredo back in March of 2020. However, due to the pandemic, this series which is producing such incredible talent was put to a temporary halt. It's been a year and a half since the last rendition of the fight series but it returns today (9/11/21) in a major way. On the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy, the hard-hitting prospects of Laredo, Texas will once again fill out the Sames Auto Arena. 

Undefeated super featherweight Daniel Villarreal will make his Laredo debut and look to move to 5-0.  Nick Molina who is a highly touted Jr Middleweight prospect, will show his fighter's mentality and warrior spirit will take a catchweight fight on extremely short notice and look to move his record to 4-0.  Additionally, Alex "Bazooka" Ramos, younger brother of Jorge Ramos, looks to bounce back from his first career loss, a 6-round slugfest with San Antonio-based prospect Javier Fernandez when he takes on veteran Hector Gutierrez of Mission, Texas. Two other young Gateway city natives will make their professional debuts. 112-pound Jaime Guevara and Super Middleweight Sonny Lique, both look to get their career off to a quick start.

The Legendary Marco Antonio Barrera returns to Texas.

Former Multi division world champion Marco Antonio Barrera is set to return to the Lone Star State to take on fellow former world champion Jose Luis Castillo in an exhibition in Houston on October 29th at the Arena Theatre and will be dubbed "problems in Houston". The bout will be an exhibition between the two again all-time great fighters. It will be added as a feature to the Big Belt Tournament which is bought to you by The Boxing Showcase and the WBC\ and is a tournament that pits young fighters with less than five pro bouts against each other in a single-elimination tournament that concludes with the winner of each weight class receiving an official World Boxing Council championship belt. The Tournament begins next Friday in Austin.

Barrera is considered one of the greatest fighters of his or any era, compiled a 67-7 record, and is a three-division world champion. He has fought previously in Texas twice, once against Manny Pacquiao in San Antonio and again in San Antonio in the next to last bout of his career in 2010 where he scored a UD victory over Adailton De Jesus. He also fought in South Padre Island, where he secured a victory over Agapito Sanchez all the way back in 1995. The former world champ said through a translator "He looks forward to fighting in Houston. Coming off the pandemic people are looking to get out and have a good time and he wants to put on a show" his opponent Jose Luis Castillo is most notoriously remembered as the man that was robbed of a decision against Floyd Mayweather and being stopped by Diego Corrales in one of the greatest fights of all time. Castillo previously held a major world title at lightweight. He compiled a record of 66-13-1 and has fought previously in Texas just multiples times including in El Paso when he outpointed Rolando Reyes in El Paso back in 2006 and he also stopped Saul Duran in Brownsville in 2003.

Javier Fernandez Moves to 7-0; caps off exciting San Antonio Card

San Antonio is quickly becoming the fight capital of the Lone Star State, Saturdays card at the Shrine auditorium is a prime example as to why. An electric five-bout card that featured live musical acts and was well attended by a cheering crowd as well as local celebrities such as 140-pound prospect Omar Juarez and Bantamweight contender Ramon Cardenas.  In the main event unbeaten 18-year-old Featherweight prospect Javier Fernandez, of San Antonio, improved his record to 7-0. Taking the first major test of his young career he put constant pressure on Darryl Hayes of Houston. Fernadez ripped body shots in the early going and kept Hayes, who was looking to move, kept getting caught in exchanges up against the ropes.

The card kicked off with a highly touted California native making his Texas debut Angel Chavez made quick work of his overmatched opponent Brushnell Robert who was making his pro-debut. Chavez moves his record to 4-0. on a seek and destroy a mission he scored with an overhand right to the side of the that ended the bout just 43 seconds after it started. By the third round, Hayes started to show signs of fatigue as the San Antonian started digging in and for the first time noticeably hurting Hays with a three-piece combination just prior to the bell sounding to end the third. The second of the half looked much the same, with Fernadez trapping and out-working his opponent and landing the heavier shots in the exchanges. Rolling to a clear points victory by scores of 59-51 and 58-52 while the third judge egregiously scored the fight 58-52 in favor of Hayes.

In the co-main event, Fan-favorite Crisanto Lucio entered to a tremendous roar from the crowd. He immediately got to work and gave the crowd what they wanted scoring a vicious second-round knockout via a thudding right hand followed by a body shot that put Corpus Christi, native Christopher Cantu down and out in his pro debut. The 21- year-old Lucio moved his record. 

in the next bout unbeaten welterweight, Luis Alberto Gallegos, of San Antonio put together a dominant opening round mixing up body shots and headshots perfectly. Which set up a vicious second-round KO over an overmatched Ruben Martinez, also of San Antonio. Moving onto a thrilling light heavyweight scrap between fan-favorite Enrique Neira, who originally hails from San Angelo, Texas, and received a massive roar from the crowd. He controlled the range rocked his opponent Michael Sanchez with a right hand and then staggered him badly moments later with a left hook double right hand getting back to boxing Enrique controlled his man with the jab in the second. With Neira likely taking the first two rounds Sanchez picked up the pace and exchanged on the inside landing his best shot early in the fourth. The two traded heavy leather for the remainder of the fairly even final round. However, the rally was too little too late for Sanchez as Neira took the majority decision by scores of  38-38 even and 39-37x2 in his favor to move his record to 8-1.

"Big Belt Tournament" Kicks off in Austin on September 15th

On September 17th something truly special event l will kick off in Austin, Texas. The first stage of the "Big Belt Championship" will begin. The Boxing Showcase with the help of the World Boxing Council (WBC) will bring together four-round fighters from all over the country to compete in a tournament and win the first major belt.  It's a tournament that will cover several different weight classes. Earlier in the month, the event was announced in San Antonio by WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman. Three of the four stages will take place in the Lone Star State with one other stage in nearby Oklahoma. The semifinals will be the last week of October and the first week of November and will take place in Austin and Laredo. The finals will be held in Mc Allen in December. The winners from each weight class will be awarded a WBC belt. 

Eligible fighters most have a winning record and have no more than five fights prior to the beginning of the tournament. Professional debuts are allowed. Each fighter is required to, have a professional boxer license, and must comply with the medical and physical examinations requested by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. 

The four women divisions are Flyweight (112 pounds), Bantamweight (118 pounds), Featherweight (126 pounds), and Lightweight (135 pounds).

For men, there are eight divisions:  While for men, there will be 8 divisions: Flyweight (112 pounds), Bantamweight (118 pounds), Featherweight (126 pounds), Lightweight (135 pounds), Welterweight (147 pounds), Middleweight (160 pounds), Lightheavyweight (175 pounds) and Heavyweight (+200 pounds).

All stages will be broadcast in full on TV nationally and internationally.

The schedule is below: 

1st stage Austin Texas | SEPTEMBER 17TH2nd Stage Mesquite Texas | OCTOBER 1ST 3rd Stage Oklahoma | OCTOBER 8TH 4th Stage Amarillo Texas | OCTOBER 15TH

Semifinal  Austin Texas | OCTOBER 29Semifinal  Laredo Texas | NOVEMBER 5

GRAND FINAL MC ALLEN TEXAS | DECEMBER 17TH WIN YOUR FIRST WBC BELT, WITH THE BOXING SHOWCASE. 

SIGN UP TODAY FOR THER PRO TOURNAMENT https://boxingshowcase.com/registration/

Young Stable of Stars Set to Shine In San Antonio

San Antonio's boxing scene is absolutely on fire. Josh Franco just defended his version of the super flyweight title. Mario Barrios a former world champion was involved in the fight of the year and the Pay Per View extravaganza of the year. On top of that there are countless other Alamo City stars who are bursting onto the scene, Bam Rodriguez, Hector Tanajara, Ramon Cardenas, Rick Medina, "Goyo" Gregory Morales all call the Alamo City home.  Boxing is engrained into the fabric of San Antonio it's a fighting city composed of fighters. That goes for the stars mentioned above as well as the developing stars, the under-the-radar. hidden gems that are also at no shortage in San Antonio.

 Cameron Davies, a San Antonian, who is famous for creating "Cruising Kitchens" designing and fabricating extravagant mobile Kitchens has put a major investment into some of these up-and-coming super prospects. Creating a state-of-the-art gym for them to train and sharpen their skills at, and is completely dedicated to putting on regular shows to build his fighter's records and prepare them to fight at the highest level. He has invested the time and money into building a stable of exciting young fighters who will have an opportunity to shine this Saturday at their home gym. 

Davies's stable includes exciting featherweight knockout Artist "World Star" Henry Arredondo who sports a 7-1 record, who has been a major ticket seller in San Antonio for the past few years. Building up a quality resume that includes a highlight real of spectacular one-punch knockouts. Arredondo's lone career loss comes at the hands of Eros Correa, a dispute decision, that was originally announced for Arredondo, a decision that no one flinched at because everyone seemingly thought World Star was the rightful winner but was moments leader corrected and given to Correa. A decision that got a lot of attention from boxing media, because they seemed to have gotten it right the first time, among the vocal critics was two-time welterweight world champion "Showtime" Shawn Porter who on his podcast acknowledged he thought the San Antoninian had clearly won the fight.  Arredondo will look to bounce back from his lone career defeat against veteran Charles Clark.

Next up is Floyd Schofield who is known as " Kid Austin" is from Austin, Texas, and got his boxing start at  Richard Lord’s Boxing gym, which was home to the legendary fan favorite all-action James Kirkland.  Schofield, is more of a pure boxer and has lightning-quick reflexes and an equally as quick jab. he also packs surprising power as was on full display when he fought Ricardo Esquibel on Telemundo and ended his night just 1 minute and 40 seconds with a tremendous left hook that dropped Esquibel like a building imploding on itself that was aired live on Telemundo. Schofield sports a perfect 6-0 record and will take on  Roberto Almazan in a six-rounder on Saturday night.

Perhaps the crown jewel of Davies Entertainment's stable is the young former  Amateur standout and national champion the undefeated blue-chip featherweight prospect Xavier Nunez. Nunez, who hails from Corpus Christi,  sports a perfect  2-0 record, and despite still being a teenager has already fought on a major card and garnered national attentional. Nunez kicked off the Charlo-Castano undercard with a spectacular fourth-round stoppage of David Alfaro in the  AT&T Center in San Antonio. Corpus Christi has had a former world champion Jessie Benevidez who held the WBO Super bantamweight belt (from 91-92)  ad challenged for a world title in the featherweight division. The same division Nunez competes at.  A division former world title challenger and Corpus Christi native Jerry Belmontes can certainly win a world title at.

Ortiz & Franco Complete Texas Two-Step: 5 Texans in all Win on Saturday

Multi-time Trainer of the Year award winner Robert Garcia has one of, if the not deepest stable in professional boxing. This is typically a great thing, except when two of the fighters in your stable have major fights on the same day. That's exactly what happened on Saturday night as undefeated blue-chip prospect Vergil Ortiz had a homecoming date at The Star in Frisco against a former world title challenger and WBA Super Flyweight champ  "The Professor" Josh Franco of San Antonio had a title offense against Australian rival Andrew Moloney. Garcia was stuck with the tough decision of having to pick one corner to work. He opted for Franco and left the unbeaten protégé in the hands of other members of the Robert Garcia Boxing academy as well as Ortiz Sr. The decision worked out perfectly as both men scored sensational victories

Over in Frisco, Ortiz who has blown past everyone he has stepped in the ring with, got off to a rougher than expected start. After a fairly even and uneventful first round, Egidijus Kavaliauskas of Lithuania rocked Ortiz with an uppercut that landed perfectly on the chin of the Texan. The Lithuanian fired one power shot after another that seemingly put Ortiz to the canvas however referee Lawrence Cole ruled it a slip.  Facing real adversity for the first time in his career, it would be interesting to how the young upstart would respond and respond he did. From that point on Ortiz would dominate in typical fashion. Staying composed and working behind the jab, Ortiz was able to stabilize himself and end the round well. He then seized control of the fight starting in the third and dropped Kavaliauskas with a shotgun of a jab followed by a short left hook. The hometown hero didn't go for the kill and stayed in control. Working calmly behind the jab and attacking the body Ortiz dominated the next several rounds. Setting up the eight, when a body shot sent the "Mean Machine" to the canvas for a second time.  Ortiz stayed on the prowl and put Kavaliauskas on the canvas for the third time and again Kavaliauskas made it up, but not for long. As a barrage of uppercuts from the Texan again dropped Kavaliauskas. Sensing the end was near Ortiz unleashed a vicious series of power shots that send Kavaliauskas one last time just before the bell. This time for good as Laurence Cole waived the bout off at the end of the 8th round. 

A few hours to the north in Tulsa. Oklahoma at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Alamo City native Joshua Franco put together a career-best performance in outpointing Andrew Moloney. Dominant from the opening bell on. The Professor took Moloney to boxing school. Scoring with a blistering right hand that could not miss Franco built up a big lead in the middle rounds. Momentum seemed to change in the seventh when the two exchanged right hands and Franco was put down to the canvas. Live speed it did appear that Moloney landed a glancing blow that dropped an off-balance Franco. However, the replay showed that Moloney's right hand missed and Franco was the one that landed and the knockdown was overturned. Franco cleared his had got back in control and dominated the Australian the rest of the way nailing him with laser-like right hands from the midrange. Constantly throwing first and keeping Moloney on the back foot. Moloney rallied in spurts in the ninth as well as in the final round but every time he did he was matched every step of the way by the San Antonian. Going to the cards it was academic as all three judges scored unanimously 116-112 in favor of the champion. 

Two Dallas-based, southpaw brothers, Alex and George Rincon scored dominant, unanimous decision victories on the undercard at the Star in Frisco. Big brother George Rincon used his jab and straight lefts to overwhelm Brooklyn, NY-based opponent, Nikolai Buzolin. Rincon won every round on every card 80-72 on each of the three cards. Alex Rincon was equally as dominant in defeating  Sanny Duversonne. The younger Rincon brother put on a competitive boxing clinic to take all 8 rounds on two of the three cards and seven of the eight on the third and move his record to 9-0 (6) 

Down in Orlando, Florida on a card promoted by Nelson Lopez and Marshall Kaufman, San Antonio-based Ramon Cardenas, moved his record to 20-1 and captured the WBA continental bantamweight title by defeating veteran Marvin Solano of Nicaragua. Making it a perfect 5-0 for Texas fighters. For Cardenas it's the second division he has won regional titles in and could be on his way to a world title fight in 2022.

Figueroa vs Fulton: Moved to September 18th

24-year-old  unified 122-pound champion Brandon "The Heartbreaker" Figueroa of Weslaco is coming off of a career-best performance. A seventh-round KO  via body shot of unbeaten WBC super bantamweight champion Luis "Pantera" Nery. The Rio Grande Valley native was set to defend that title as well as his WBA strap against WBO champion Stephen Fulton on September 11. However, with the collapse of the Canelo Alvarez fight that was tentatively scheduled for September 18th. The historic, Mexican Independence Day weekend, that date is now open. The date has previously been filled by superstars like Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather, and of course Canelo Alvarez and is a bit of a tradition in the boxing world. The date is now open and can highlight two of PBC's premier young superstars in a unification bout. The bout will likely take place at the Park MGM’s Park Theater in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the bout will air on Showtime

The Heartbreaker is the younger brother of former lightweight champion  Omar "Panterita" Figueroa jr, the two train at Panteritas  Boxing Gym in Weslaco, which is owned by Omar Sr and then switch over to train with famed trainer Joel Diaz in Indio California. Diaz has trained 13-world champions

Spence out of Pacquiao Fight with Detached Retina

The highly anticpated showdeon between IBF/WBC unified welterweight champ Errol "The Truth" Spence of Desoto, and legendary eight-divison world champ Manny Pacquiao is offically off. The Texan was forced to pull out with detached retina. A detached retina or retianl detachment is "an emergency situation in which a thin layer of tissue (the retina) at the back of the eye pulls away from its normal position. Retinal detachment separates the retinal cells from the layer of blood vessels that provides oxygen and nourishment. The longer retinal detachment goes untreated, the greater your risk of permanent vision loss in the affected eye." according to the Mayo Clinic. Typical recovery time is 2-4 weeks according to multiple medical sources. Spence, 31, said on Twitter that he has seen three different doctors and all have said the same thing.

The fight was scheduled for Saturday, August 21, at the T-Mobile Arena and is still going off. Spence we be replaced by WBA champion Yordenis Ugas. Ugas (26-4) is a quality replacement and has won three consecutive fights since a close and very controversial decision loss to Shawn Porter in 2019. He was upgraded from "Regular champ" to "Super Champ" due to the extreme inactivity of Manny Pacquiao or won the super designation from Keith Thurman in July of 2019 but has not fought since. Back in January Pacquiao was designated as "champion in recess" by the sanctioning body.

Spence, took to Twitter and said "I came back from worse" perhaps referring to a horrific car wreck he suffered back in the fall of 2019. Spence has fought just once since the accident a 12-round unanimous decision victory against former two-division world champ Danny Garcia. Pacquiao responded on Twitter saying " I pray for a full and complete recovery for @ErrolSpenceJr"

Emerging Dallas Based Brothers Back in Action

Houston native Jermall Charlo holds the WBC middleweight title while his twin brother Jermell holds three-quarters of the brass at 154. Brothers dominating is no longer an oddity in boxing, especially if those brothers come from the Lone Star State. San Antonio is home to WBA Super Flyweight champ Josh Franco and his brother Bam Rodriguez, our prospect of the year 2020, is very likely to join his big brother as a world champion in the very near future. So both H-town and Alamo City each have brothers dominating the scene. So, what about Big D? 

Enter the Rincon brothers. Dallas has a pair of undefeated brothers that are hard-hitting, blue-chip prospects that certainly have all the makings of world champions. Big brother George is an 11-0 junior welterweight and little brother Alex is a 6'3 (8-0) junior middleweight. Both are southpaws and both and both are in action this Saturday at the Star in Frisco on the Vergil Ortiz vs Egidijus Kavaliauskas card. The pair haven't fought on the same card in two years. When on the undercard of Vergil Ortiz- Antonio Orozco at The Verizon Theatre in Grand Praire when both men scored a sensational second-round knockout for their hometown fans.

Since then both have taken an interesting path, both men looked to be in their grove and on their way from transitioning from prospect to contender status. When Alex hit a string of bad luck. He was twice scheduled to fight, and each time the fight got called off. First, an opponent missed weight but 20 pounds, and then a hand injury got him scratched from a January 2020 card in San Antonio.  A card that George scored a sensational first-round knockout over Diego Vicente Perez. Following the knockout, Rincon suffered an odd medical event which caused him to pass out. Everything ended up ok and medically Rincon was fine. He was also garnering a lot of media attention and being recognized as a premier prospect at the 140-pound division. The pandemic followed shortly thereafter and delayed things a year for George. Despite being sidelined for reasons out of their control both brothers bounced back spectacular in Q1 2021. Alex scored a six-round unanimous decision at the Amerian Airlines Center in which he won every single round on each card. George then bounced back in March at the Dickies Arena in March on the Ortiz-Hooker card and captured an eight-round UD in which he won every round as well.

The Rincon bros certainly have a ways to go till they become world champions or even get into the title picture. However, both brothers have the skills and a path to get there. Alex is a 6'3 southpaw with real pop who can out-jab and outbox his opponents on the inside and can beat them up on the inside. He has a style and a skill set that makes him a massive challenge for anyone and being in a division where the best are willing to fight the best and take on all comers Alex can move into a title picture rather quickly. George is 11-0 and probably closer to moving from prospect into contender territory a win Saturday night will go a long way in helping him get there. A southpaw, master boxer-puncher with a deep amateur pedigree and very good pop for the division. George has everything you would look for in a world champion and at 29-years-old is already in his physical prime and can be moved along quickly. This couldn't happen at a better time for the elder brother. In his division, all four major world titles are held by one man, Josh Taylor,  who may vacate all four of those belts in the next year or so. in favor of moving up to 147 to chase bigger paydays. That would open up real opportunities for Rincon and all of the young talent in the weight class to fight for a world title much quicker than expected.

Vergil Oritz Closes in on World title Fight

Vergil Ortiz is one of, if not, the brightest young stars in the sport. Having won all 17 of his pro bouts by way of knockout, plus capturing Prospect of the Year awards by all major boxing publications. The undefeated welterweight will be taking to his talents to The Star in Frisco, only about 30 miles from where the Grand Prairie native grew up. For a 12- round bout for the WBO international title, with former world title challenger, Egidijus Kavaliauskas. The scarp amounts to little more than a litmus test for the Texan. 

Kavaliauskas, fought  WBO welterweight champ and Pound for Pound elite Terence Crawford in 2019. Kavaliauskas was surprisingly competitive throughout the first three rounds and may have even dropped a staggered Crawford in the third round. It was however ruled a slip. Bud, flipped the switch, hit the gas, and turned the fight around. Dropping the challenger twice on his way to a 9th round TKO victory. Vergil Ortiz is currently ranked number one by the WBO meaning he could get a call at any time to fight Crawford. Following Ortiz's last fight, a KO over fellow Texan Maurice "Mighty Mo'  he already made the call out of the long-reigning champion. Saying he didn't care if he was ready he wanted to fight Crawford. Crawford went on to say that he should go fight Kavaliauskas. Ortiz abide.

The Ortiz/Kavaliauskas is fairly academic, no fighter is to be looked past, but the Grand Prairie native has far superior skills and firepower. So the entire world is expecting Ortiz to continue his KO streak. The only question is how does he do it? Can he do it without struggling and do it more impressively than Crawford fif to try and force the hand of either the Champion to accept the fight or force the hand of the organization to mandate Ortiz fight, Bud. 

This fight is a litmus test for Ortiz, how far has he progressed and how close is he to the absolute elite in the division The elite in the division is Terence Crawford and Errol Spence of Desoto and Manny Pacquiao who square off in a few weeks. Ortiz wants to fight both and has not minced words on the subject. He wanted to fight Hooker and spent a lot of 2019 calling him out. He got the fight and delivered a spectacular performance. He wants Crawford and then Spence and will likely have to go through them in that order. Crawford is set to fight the two-time former welterweight champ, Shawn Porter. Should he win. The Crawford vs Ortiz fight becomes all too simple. Both fighters have struggled to work with PBC to fight their elite stable of 147-pounders so a Crawford-Ortix fight kind of makes itself organically as its ways to make and better options aren't easily available. 

If Oritz is successful in the fight, and that's certainly possible a Spence fight sets itself up as the premier fight in the sport. It would replace Spence/Crawford as the fight everyone is talking about and the biggest money fight in any division south of Canelo and it would make a Spence-Ortiz fight the premier money-making fight in any of those divisions. It all starts, Saturday night, at The Star in Frisco, Ortiz needs to win and win spectacularly to force a Crawford fight and go from there.

San Antonio’s Little Man Could Be Boxing’s Next Big Thing

WBA super Flyweight world titleholder "El Professor" Joshua Franco is just 25 years old and is about to do something most world-class fighters don't do in their entire career. When he steps into the ring against former WBA  Super Flyweight champion Andrew Maloney, the San Antonio native will be partaking in his second trilogy. Despite it just being his 21st professional fight he will have completed a trilogy with the durable Oscar Negrete and former world champ Andrew Maloney. In just his last seven fights dating back to the Fall of 18 Franco has fought two fighters six times. Even more shockingly the Texan hasn't lost a single one of these fights. He is 2-0-2 with one ND. The no decision was against Maloney last November and was the rematch of their thrilling fight earlier in the year in Which El Professor took his Australian rival to class. Beating him up and dropping him on his way to taking a unanimous decision. 

Franco fought rugged contender Oscar Negrete in 2018 and twice more in 2019. fighting him to a draw in the first fight and then outpointing him in the rematch in April of '19 and then settling for a disputed draw with him just three and a half months later. Mixing in a sensational knockout over Jose Alejandro Burgos in a homecoming fight at the Alamodome in January of 2020. 

It's not often that 115-pounders headline major cards but Franco, an all-action boxer-puncher has broken the mold. He has headlined several cards and each of his last three was either co-main events or main events and aired on ESPN. The reason is quite simple, the San Antonian is never in a boring fight. Every time he steps in the ring, win, lose or draw, he gives the fans their money's worth. 

Franco signed with Golden Boy as a teenager and ever since he has been providing pure gold for boxing hardcore. The first time most fans saw him was on the Canelo-Liam Smith undercard at AT&T stadium in September of 2016, in a fight that captured everyone's attention because of the electric uppercut that a then 20-year old Franco was landing with laser-like, precision from the outside that kept dropping and stunning his opponent Bryan Bazan. Despite being mild-mannered, and refusing to take part in trash talk  Franco has done his talking in the ring and has done it exceptionally well. Should he successfully defend his title against Maloney next Saturday, the sky is the limit for Franco and mega fights can be made in the relatively near future. Legendary multi-divisional world champions Like "Chocolatiatio" Roman Gonzalez, Juan Francisco Estrada, Kaz Ioka, and Donnie Nietes all compete in the same division, and given Franco's exciting style and name-value, fights with any of those names aren't just possible they make perfect sense for all parties involved.

 Franco's younger brother Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez was our 2020 prospect of the year and sports a perfect 13-0 (9) record and looks to join big brother as a world champion in the very near future. Rodriguez a 108-pounder will look to become a world  titleholder in that weight class as soon as 2022

Listo Gaitan, Jake Ysasi and other local talent Showcased on The Boxing Showcase

Photo: Hector Sanchez, InTheRing.net

Local Hero Rafael "Listo" Gaitan scored a sensational third-round TKO of an overmatched, but every game, and late replacement, in Joel “El Chapo” Guzman, a muay-Thai fighter turned pro boxer making his professional debut. A large crowd gathered at the Southern Junction, in Irving Texas to support their main "Listo: and he delivered for the packed crowd.  Gaitan, an amateur stand-out, used his jabs and started off patiently. Keeping Guzman at bay and uncomfortable. Listo mixed in head and body shots perfectly and staggered with a barrage of power shots in the opening minute of the second round. The third round saw Liston staying on the attack and dedicated to the body attack, one massive hook to the body dropped Guzman who was able to somehow make it to his feet, Seeing his opponent was badly damaged from the previous body shots  Gaitan pounced and another massive body shot dropped Guzman a second time and forcing veteran Laurence Cole to waive it off giving Gaitan the TKO remained undefeated moving his record to 7-0-1. 

The co-main event featured a prospect who came up the hard way fighting some of the premier prospects in the world. Ramiro Martinez has fought Biggie Rodriguez to a draw and took a tough-luck loss in a fight that nearly everyone thought he won against Top Rank Protege Jeremy Adorno. Martinez however was no match for Friday night's opponent the undefeated Dominque Griffin of Irving. Griffin delighted his hometown fans with precise punching and outworking Martinez on the inside. It was a constant contrast in styles with the longer, rangier Martinez boxing on the outside and Griffin, trying to get onto the inside. Griffin was able to slip his way onto the inside and land the better shots on the inside and took a Majority decision by scores of 40-36, 39-37, and 38-38. 

In the fight that certainly had the most entertaining ring walk, Army hero and Fort Worthian, Benjamin "Hill" Gurmannt stormed the ring to "Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival and then outboxed his Dallas based opponent, Angel Gomez, from the outside and landed the cleaner, harder shots on the inside. Gomez hung tough and had moments with combination punching particularly in the third round he seemed to slow down the stronger Gurment with lightning-quick combos, but it was too little as the hard clear and accurate punching from the Fort Worth native stole the show as Gurment scored a majority decision by scores of 40-36, 39-37 and 38-38. 

Two undefeated local fighters also made successful debuts. First, Kansas City, born and raised middleweight Malik "One Punch" Calhoun, now fighting out of FHG in Fort Worth, Texas scored the knockout of the night. After setting up Robert James Rees, with his jab in the first round. A perfectly time left hand from the southpaw Kansas City native sealed the deal. The crowd erupted from the vicious "one punch" which gave Calhoun 2nd round stoppage victory in his pro debut. 

Later in the night Jake “Snake” Ysasi, of Grand Prairie, put on a boxing clinic, to take a UD victory over a very game but outmatched opponent in Daniel Keith Bailey. Ysasi an accomplished amateur showed the patience of a veteran, displaying ring generalship and exceptional timing. He fights in a similar style to legendary Hall of Famer Juan manual Marquez, out of a high guard, jabbing and circling his opponent until he finds his way in. The Grand Prairie native found his way in during the 4th and final round rocking him with uppercuts on the inside and dropping his opponent with a perfectly placed body shot. Bailey, who was tough as nails all night was able to survive to the final bell but the decision was academic as Ysasi moved to 1-0  by unanimous scores of 40-36, 40-35, 39-36.

In the opening bout of the night, fans were treated to 12 minutes of war in an all-out brawl. as Austin native Luis Fernandez built up a big lead in the first two rounds doing excellent work o the inside and then evenly slugged out the final six minutes of action with Arkansas-based Aryton McArthur. However the early work paid off for Fernandez, who was narrowly able to move to 1-0 In the end, the scores read 39-37 twice and 38-38 for Fernandez who came out with the majority decision in his pro debut.