San Antonio lightweight and junior light welterweight contender "El Finito" Hector Tanajara's comeback has another hiccup. Tanajara was scheduled to fight Cuban Gold medalist and one of boxing's brightest prospects. Andy Cruz on the December 9th Regis Prorais- Devin Haney card in San Francisco. However, Tanajara, was forced to pull out due to an undisclosed injury. Tanajara has fought twice in the last 12 months while he fights to get back into the world title picture at either 135 or 140 pounds. He fought twice in his home city, stopping Antonio Meija last November, and returned this March and ourpointed Austin native Johnny Arellano. Tanajara suffered setbacks in 2021 and 2022, losing to William Zepeda and settling for a draw with Miguel Contreras in March 2022 before regrouping with trainer Robert Garcia and setting up a comeback that he has looked sharp in and has been successful in. Matchroom, the promoter of the Haney-Prograis card, has not announced a replacement for "El Finito".
Vergil Ortiz Reunites with Robert Garcia
Undefeated junior middleweight Vergil Ortiz of Grand Prairie is back in familiar territory. The former top-ranked welterweight is back at the RGBA with head trainer Robert Garcia. Ortiz has gone through several trainers since turning pro in 2016. Ortiz trained with Joel Diaz initially before moving on to train with Robert Garcia, which he did up until late 2021 when he announced he was splitting with the trainer, citing Garcia had opted to work the corner of Joshua Franco in his trilogy with Andrew Moloney in the summer of 2021. Ortiz fought Egidijus Kavaliauskas on the same day at a different location. Garcia said he tried to figure out a way to get a helicopter between the two fights. Ortiz fought in Frisco and Franco in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The logistics didn't work, and despite making less money, Garcia opted to corner Franco's fight despite making considerably less money. Ortiz then opted to work with esteemed trainer Manny Robles for his 2022 fight with Michael McKinson in Fort Worth. Ortizx won the fight via 9th round TKO and has not fought since. His fight with Eimantas Stanionis was postponed multiple times and then finally canceled. Stanionis postponed the date after having emergency appendectomy surgery in January. Ortiz then had to pull out of the fight twice due to a flare-up of his previously diagnosed rhabdomyolysis. Ortiz announced today via social media that he had returned to the RGBA to train with the legendary trainer.
RGV Trio of Juarez Promotions, Rolo production, and Sebastian Juarez Make History.
Box Azteca has been a staple of boxing for decades. It has highlighted and showcased countless Mexican fights and fighters. It has now moved into the Lone Star State, thanks to the father and son combination of Rudy Juarez, the founder of Juarez Promotions and the father of 140-pound world title contender Omar "El Relampago" Juarez, and Juarez's youngest son, undefeated 154-pound prospect and US National Amateur champ 18-year-old, Sebastian "El Trueno" Juarez who moved to 2-0 (1). On Saturday, the 28th of October, "El Trueno" dominated Francisco Javier Castillo in the main event of the first-ever Juarez Promotions card. The event was held at the Harlingen Event Center. The venue was packed with energetic RGV fight fans, and the night was filled with the best young talent in the RGV, a region that has become one of boxing's top hot spots in recent years.
Juarez Promotions and Box Azteca have agreed to a unique contract that brings fight fans at least four of these cards per year. The first time the world-renowned Box Azteca has aired a Texas-based card. It now will do so regularly, thanks to the Juarez men. The first card of 2024 will be on February 24, followed by one in July. The first professional show put on by Juarez Promotions was a ringing success. Juarez commented, "As soon as we finished the show on October 28th, by Monday, we started working on the next one...We already have our sponsors and fighters lined up on our card... We're getting calls from all over, people from California who want to be on our card." The promoter went on and explained his big plans. "We're changing boxing in the RGV and South Texas! All these kids are going to be televised, with Spanish commentators! Having Spanish commentators gives it the classic Mexican feel and makes it more exciting. It has the Mexican boxing feel. The boxing scene is changing." Team Juarez is taking massive steps in doing so, and that TV deal with Box Azteca is a huge step. It will give the fighters exposure and a massive audience. It will also allow Box Azteca, the famous Mexican program, to plant its claws in the RGV and have the ability to showcase these elite prospects. It's a win-win proposal for the promoter and network. A chance Juarez said he had to take. "They did an interview with Sebastian, and after that finished up, I had to ask them if they were interested in televising my card. I figured, what did I have to lose? The worst they could say is no." It turns out they did not say no! They were thrilled with the idea. The details and finances were hammered out, and a deal was reached. The young RGV upstarts had massive exposure, and the RGV was on the boxing map!
Juarez is revolutionizing the boxing scene in the boxing-crazed RGV, and by the end of 2024, for his final show of that year, he wants to bring a card to one of the large arenas in the Valley, either the Payne Arena or the Bert Ogden Arena in Edinburg. Things are moving fast for Juarez Promotions, as Juarez explained, "10-years ago, I was just a boxing dad and a boxing coach, now I have my ranch gym, a ton of fighters, and I am a promoter. I did it because I love boxing. I want to grow in boxing."
It started with humble beginnings, just two friends and two coaches who loved boxing and happened to "click". "Rolo" Michael Garza of "Rolo Productions" and Juarez met through the amateur program in South Texas, and they immediately clicked. The pair worked together putting on hugely successful amateur shows in the Valley, drawing over 1,000 fans for these shows. Juarez told Garza they should do professional shows and that he was going to get his promoter license. Juarez did just that, and a few months later, the pair had a stable of young fighters to put on the professional card, a TV contract for multiple fights with a world-renowned network, and a massively successful show that the sponsors are lining up for. The Team of Juarez and Garza has amassed a very deep stable of talented, undefeated prospects. In addition to Sebastian Juarez, they work with prospects such as Moses Garcia, Jose Infante, Bryan Rodriguez, and Manny Hernandez. It's been a quick rise to the top for the elder Juarez and Garza.
As for the youngest Juarez son, things are going equally as well! He moved his record to 2-0 (1) and picked up an impressive unanimous decision victory in the main event of the October 28 card. He's building up a huge following of his own and has been around the spotlight since his early teens with his brother, Omar. Sebastian is not at all overwhelmed by the moment or the spotlight. He remains laser-focused on his rise to the top. The 18-year-old has handled himself like a veteran, answering questions, doing interviews, and taking care of business inside the ring like he has been doing it for years, not like he turned pro a few months ago. "He was made for this." the proud father exclaimed. "Now it's just get him the right fights and the right opposition, get him a rugged guy or a lefty, matching him tough. With the right management, we can get him to where we want to go."
Dallas Native and Fan Favorite "Chiccn" Shurretta Metcalf Shines in New York City
Phot Credit: David Algranati The Fight Photos
Shrretta Metcalf of Dallas, Texas, moved her record to 13-4-1 (2) and picked up not only the biggest win of her career by dominating and outpointing Japanese veteran Miyo Yoshida, she also picked up the vacant IBF-Continental Bantamweight title.
The 5'8 Metcalf has mostly campaigned at the super bantamweight division, however, she moved down to bantamweight this summer, and it was a career-changing decision for the Dallas native. She outpointed Melissa Odessa Parker in a thrilling fight and now picks you up the win over Yoshida. Metcalf has now put herself in a position to potentially face off with the winner of the December showdown between Ebanie Bridges and Avril Mathie for Bridges belt.
The Texan dominated the fight early behind her jab. She used her natural advantages to perfection, keeping Yosihda at bay with her sharp jab, and would mix in occasional right hands that would snap Yoshida's head back. In the middle rounds, Metcalf began coming forward and stalking her opponent and began walking her down. Metcalf became the aggressor and landed a thudding uppercut that hurt her Japanese opponent. Yoshida picked up the pace and tried bringing more pressure, but it was of little success as Metcalf was able to control the distance to keep her opponent from getting comfortable the judges got it right and awarded Chiccn the competitive but clear-cut decision victory by scores of 99-91, 98-92 and 96-94. Metcalf called for the Bridges fight in the post-fight interview should Bridges do her part in December against Mathie.
Vazquez to Face Cordina, end Fort Worth's 20+year World Title Drought
Fort Worth, Texas, is a city of nearly a million people and has a rich boxing history. Despite this Funkytown has not had a world boxing champion in over 20 years. The last time the 817 was home to a world champ was the legendary Paulie Ayala, who was forced to vacate his WBA World Bantamweight title when he moved up and fought Clarence "Bones" Adams, a fight that Ayala won by split decision. That world title drought could very well come to an end tomorrow night in Monte Carlo. In the first major card in Monte Carlo since the pandemic, Fort Worth native Edward "Kid" Vazquez will walk into the ring a 7-1 underdog against reigning IBF Super Featherweight champ Joe Cordina.
Vazquez has won four fights in a row since his hotly disputed loss to Raymond Ford in 2022, a fight that took home the"Robbery of the Year" award. The travesty of a decision, even Ford's promoter Eddie Hearn acknowledged that Ford lost, didn't keep Vazquez down. He came back just five months later and outclassed Jose Argel. He then got a big opportunity on a Showtime Card at the Punch Bowl in Carson, California. Vaquez scored an upset of touted Ukrainian Featherweight Viktor Slavinskyi. That set up a fight again on Showtime against Misael Lopez. Once again, Vazquez walked in as the underdog and again, scored a decision victory. The bout was the co-main event on a SHOBOX card and was promoted by Hall of Fame promoter Lou Dibella. The performance apparently impressed the legendary promoter, who quickly announced that he was signing Vazquez. Dibella threw a homecoming event for his new acquisition, and Vazquez put on a show in a non-stop all-action fight. He again scored a decision victory over Brayan De Gracia. That win moved the Texan's record to 15-1 (3) and set up this opportunity, a world title shot with Joe Cordina 16-0 (9).
Cordina, who is also promoted by Hearn, was rumored to be in fight discussions with fellow 130-pound world champ O'Sahquie Foster of Orange, Texas. Hearn had met and discussed a fight with Foster's manager. However, it is Vazquez who got the opportunity, and should he pull the upset, which Foster thinks Vazquez can. It could potentially set up an all-texas civil war unification fight between Vazquez and Foster. Foster did his part and scored a dramatic come from behind 12th round TKO of Eduardo Hernandez last week in Mexico. Now Vazquez has to go into Monte Carlo and pull one more upset to set up a unification scrap every Texas fight fan wants.
Shuretta Metcalf Gets Big Opportunity in NYC
Dallas's favorite female fighter "Chiccn" Shurretta Metcalf, 12-4-1 (2), will battle Miyo Yoshida, 16-3 (0). for the IBF Inter-Continental bantamweight title on November 7th at the Edison Ballroom in New York City. Metcalf eked out an impressive 10-round decision over this undefeated Houston-based Melissa Odessa Parker on July 29th on the undercard of Edward Vazquez vs Brayan De Gracia at Riders Field in Frisco. That win propels her into this title shot with Yoshida, which will be a part of a Dibella Entertainment card which is headlined by former 130-Pound world champion Jamel Herring, who battles unbeaten Massachusetts-based prospects Nicholas Molina. The event will stream live on DAZN starting at 6 PM CST. Metcalf has won two in a row since her disputed points loss to Danielle Bennett, which ended her nine-fight unbeaten streak. The Dallas native will battle Yoshida of Japan, who is coming off a close majority decision victory over the Dallas-based Indeya Smith, also in New York City in April. That was Yoshida's first fight in the US. Her previous 18 fights were all in her native Japan.
Jermall Charlo is set to return on November 25th.
Houston native and WBC Middleweight Champion Jermall Charlo,32-0 (22), has been linked to David Benavidez and Demetrius Andrade for years. He will not be fighting either of those former world champions, instead, he will fight former welterweight world title challenger Jose Benavidez Jr the older brother of David, on the undercard of Benavidez-Andrade on November 25th in Las Vegas. Charlo, who turned 33 earlier this year, captured the WBC middleweight title in 2019 and has defended it successfully four times. He has wins over Brandon Adams, Dennis Hogan, Surrogate Derevyanchenko, and Juan Mantiel. However, he has not defended his belt at all since June of 2021. Despite the layoff WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman said that the Texan was at no risk of losing his title. The president had no plans of stripping him of the belt for inactivity He will end that layoff and return to the ring on the.
Benavidez Jr is 31 -years old and sports a 28-2-1 (19) record, and was once upon a time one of boxing's hottest young prospects. He made a bid at the WBO Welterweight crown against Terence Crawford in 2018 but came up short and was stopped in the 12th round. He then took three years off and returned in 2021 and fought Argentinian Francisco Emanuel Torres. In his next outing, he was outpointed by former two-weight division world champ Danny Garcia in July of 22. He then picked up his first win in over five years by stopping Bosnian journeyman Sladan Janjanin in five rounds. The fight was the first fight of note Benavidez Jr fought at the middleweight limit.
Shut The Hell Up and Enjoy The Show: Joshua Montoya Gets the Spotlight
25-year-old Super Featherweight Joshua "Spotty" Montoya is a star. The 6-3-2 (0) Lubbock native, who now fights out of and trains in San Antonio with Luey Villareal, is a superstar and will get a massive opportunity to show off his skills Saturday night on ESPN+ live from the Tahoe Blue Event Center in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Montoya will square up with undefeated prospect Gabriel Garcia, 9-0 (6), of Antioch, California.
The only thing faster than Montoya's lighting-quick left hooks and lead right hands is his mouth. The Texan has the gift of gab and the skills and athleticism to back it up. The hyper-athletic Montoya may not have the thinnest record in the sport, but the record is misleading. The 25-year-old took massive challenges very early in his career, dropping competitive decisions to Javy Fernendez and Armondo Moran. He started his career with a record of 0-2-2 (0). Things quickly changed as the Texan relocated to Alamo City and got with Villareal. The Lubbock native has a second-to-none work ethic, has shown massive improvements, and ran off four wins in a row against stiff competition and picked up both an ABF and a Texas title in that stretch. Those four opponents, which included two undefeated fighters, had a combined record of 28-8-1. In the streak, he outpointed Nelson "Hot Hands" Hampton, plus Laredo native and fan favorite Jorge Ramos, at The Sames Auto Arena in Laredo. After putting on a master class performance against Ramos in front of his hometown fans, the crowd erupted in boos, to which Montoya responded with, "Just shut the hell up and enjoy the show" The show that "Spotty" has put on over the last 15-months has been nothing less than entertaining, to say the least. With a win over Garcia, the kid who started 0-2-2 will establish himself as a legitimate prospect in the 130-pound division. Montoya has built himself up a large social media following as well. He has amassed nearly 25,000 Instagram followers and 70,000 on TikTok.
Montoya will enter the ring as the underdog, but he feels no pressure and isn't overwhelmed by the opportunity. He said of the fight, televised by ESPN, "It's just another day...we had a month, we had a good camp." Montoya is clearly not in awe of the big stage, and he'll need that calm and confidence that he possesses when he steps in with Garcia, a touted prospect who last fought on the Fundora-Mendoza PBC card and scored a split decision victory over Marco Diaz back in April.
Courtesy of 210 BOXING TV
Vergil Ortiz Set to Return; January 6 in Vegas
Former prospect of the year and Grand Prairie native, Vergil Ortiz will resume his career after a few medical scares, and will move up from 147 to 154. The undefeated 25-year-old will headline a January 6th Golden Boy card in Las Vegas. Ortiz has not fought in Las Vegas since May 2019 on the undercard of Canelo-Jacobs. Ortiz scored a brutal and star-making KO of Mauricio Herrera. It will be the first Vegas card that the young KO artist has headlined. He has previously headlined cards in Texas and California.
Ortiz currently sports a perfect 19-0 record, with all 19 wins coming by way of stoppage. The Texan will battle Chicago-based, Ghanaian-born Fredick Lawson, 30-3 (22). A hard-hitting fringe contender who has mixed it up with some high-level fighters. The 33-year-old Ghanaian has a win over Breidis Prescott and has been in with Dallas native Charles Hatley and Canadian contender Kevin Bizer. In his three losses, Lawson was stopped in all of them, a recipe for disaster when stepping in with a fighter who has stopped every opponent he has faced.
Ortiz last fought in Fort Worth in August 2022 and stopped Michael Mckinson in nine rounds. The Texan was named mandatory challenger to WBA titlist Eimantas Stanionis after the McKinson win. That fight was scheduled three times but never came to fruition. Originally, Stanionis needed to pull out due to Appendicitis. The fight was rescheduled for April, and finally, July. Ortiz was forced to pull out both times with flare-ups of his rhabdomyolysis diagnosis.
Sebastain Juarez Shines on Inaugural Juarez Promotions Card in Harlingen
It was Juarez family affair in the Rio Grande Valley Saturday night as Juarez Promotions put on its inaugural boxing show that featured Sebastian ``El Trueno" Juarez, the brother of Omar "El Relampago" Juarez in the evening's main event wih his brother in his corner. "El Trueno" brought the thunder and showed that his skills are translating at the professional level. Juare is a multi time US National champ and remained an undefeated professional prospect Saturday night at the Harlingen COnvention Center. Juarez, of Brownsville, worked behind a quick and disciplined jab in beating down a rugged opponent in Francisco Javier Castillo of Tamaulipas, Mexico. The difference in handspeed was noticeable from the start as Juarez would flury and frustrate Castillo. At just 18 years-old showed ring generalship and maturity beyond his years. He was able to maintain distance and score with body shots at will that broke down his opponent and began breaking his will. Castillo began shelling up and in survival mode for much of the fight as Juarez controlled the action and took a lot of steam out of Ctastillow with body sohts, one right hand in particular seemed to really damaged the outmatched opponet.Juarez stayed patient and calm and dominated the fourth as well and rolled to a well earned UD victory by scores of 40-36 X3.
In the evenings co main evernt youngser "Pretty Boy" Bryan Rodriguez of nearby Donna, Texas, made a big statement in just his second pro fight. THe Donna native scored a lopsided unanimous decision over the very game and experienced Victor Pinon. Rodriguez boxed beautifully and showcased his jab and his speed while scooring at will in the svheduled four rounder wheile making his opponent, Fernando Robles consistgently miss. Just before the 10 second clap, Rodriguez, fighting off his back foot landed a snapping left hook that seemed to hurt Robles. Working off his back foot Pretty Boy was able to bait Robles into wating left hooks that Rodriguez threw from a wide variety of angels. The Donna native continued using his foot work and speed and was able to put round in the backs. In the fourth and final round he scored with a short left hook right hand combination that stopped Robles in his track. The score cards were academic as Rodrgiuez rolled to a wide decsion.
The undervard featured several other prospects of note. 18-year- Junior Flyweight Esteban Garza of San Juan, Texas scored the KO of the night. After landing with several right hands that backed up Angel Martinez, he delivered a left hook to the bodyt less than a minute into the fight that put Martinez down and out. The impressive youngster moved to 3-0 (2).
Harlingen, native Moses Garcia moved to 2-0 (2) with two second round KO's as he stopped Diego Aguilar. Garcia drove his man into the corner with a blistering right hand a minute into the second. While Garcia had his man in th ecorner he carefully picked his shots and a left hook to the body sealed the deal as Aguilar wa unable to veat the count.
Jose Infante of nearby Brownsville made his Texas debut a succesful one and was able to deliver a second round KO as well. The Brownsville native took on Diego Rodriguez ofTamaulipas, Mexico. THe Texan got to work quickly and dropped Rodrigue with a right hand a minute into the fight. He stayeed patiend and got back to work behind the jab and mied in some thudding ody shots that had Rodriguez haurt several times. A right hand with about 20 seconds left in the opening round dropped Rodriguez a second time. Infante quickly went in and finished the job when a pair of Right hands from Infante put his outmathed opponets on ice skates and vrogubht the referee in to step in and stop the fight. Infante moved to 3-0 (2) overall.
In what was perhaps the most competative fight of the night Adolofo Alanis of Edinburg outlasted Angel Tamez of Brownsiville. Alanis a southpaw with a ide base applied pressure and attacked in the early going. He scored with a straightl eft hans that forced Tames into the ropes. However, Tamez did good work with his back to the rope and caught the attntion of Alanis with a big right hand just before the end of one. Tamez landed clean shots throughout, but it was Alanis with the quicker hand speed and cleaner foot work. He wound fire off combinations that would stop the momentum of Tames. Alanis was outworking his man and out scoring him while at long range.The Brownsville resident scored with body shots on the inside,but Alanis was able to catch Tamez coming and would flurry with a barrage of unanswered shots. Ultimately it was ths speed and combinations of Alanis that carried the night and earned his the hard fought and compeative unamious decsion by scores of 39-37X3. He improved to 6-0 (1) while Tamez fell to 7-4 (6).
Joshua Edwards of Houston Becomes Second Texan to Qualify for Olympics, Joins Jennifer Lozano
A second Texan has qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Texas now represents the two extremes. The Smallest Women's Weight class (Jennifer Lozano 50 KG) and the largest Men's Weight class Super Heavyweight Joshua Edwards are both secured by Texans. Edwards is the first male boxer from H-town to qualify for the Olympic games since Rocky Juarez in 2000. Houston natives Marlen Esparza and Virginia Fuchs have competed in the Olympics in recent games on the Female side.
Edwards closed out the action on Friday evening Pan Am games in an exciting come-from-behind victory of Cuban Fernando Arzola. Arzola jumped out to a 3-2 lead in the opening round of the. Both fighters scored with clean and effective blows. It appeared that the Texan took the close opening round. However, the majority of the scoring judges disagreed. So Edwards bit down and really got going in the second stanza and dominated the second round, using his jab effectively to set up accurate power shots.
With the bout very much in the balance heading into the third and final round. Edwards saved his best for last and showed his heart and determination. Dominating the final three minutes, applying pressure, and staggering the Cuban several times, scoring with clean combinations and mixing in some effective bodywork to take the round 5-0 and secure the 5-0 unanimous decision victory and his ticket to the 2024 Paris games.
Laredo Native Jennifer Lozano Qualifies for 2024 Olympics
The Gateway City has quickly become a boxing hotbed. The city of about 230,000 people has been producing high-level professionals and amateur boxers at break-neck speeds. Laredo now has its first-ever Olympian. Jennifer "La Traviesa" Lozano needs no introduction in The Gateway City, and the 50-kilo (110-pound) female fighter has her ticket to the 2024 Paris Summer Games.
The 20-year-old qualified for the games with a dominant 5-0 points victory over Canadian Mckenzie Wright in the quarter-finals of the Pan-Am Games in Santiago, Chile. In an emotional moment, Lozano gave her ticket to her mother, who was in the stands, and the pair celebrated Lozano qualifying for the Olympics.
"We are going to Paris, baby. La Traviesa es de Laredo, Texas. We are ready for all of the world. We are going to the Olympics," The Laredoan exclaimed and went on to say, "Being the first Olympian from Laredo means a lot to me."
The Border town will have an excellent chance to get its second Olympian later in the year as Emilio Garcia, who came up just short in the Pan Am games, will have two more chances to qualify for the games in the 63.5 Kilos men's division.
Jose Cardenas of Laredo gets Huge Oppurtunity to Battle Top Prospect on Top Rank Card
Laredo boxing is absolutely surging with Emilio Garcia and Jennifer Lozano thriving in the international amateur scene and on the path to qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics and Jorge Castaneda battling his way into world title contention and upcoming protege Felix "Gatito" Garcia turning his heads and compiling a perfect 7-0 (1) record. Another skilled Laredoan will get a major opportunity to shine. Jose Cardenas, 7-1 (5), will battle undefeated prospect Abdullah Mason, a 19-year-old lightweight from Cleveland, Ohio, on November 16th. Mason sports a perfect 10- 0 (8) record and is considered one of the world's brightest prospects. The bout will take place in Las Vegas on the undercard of Shakur Stevenson- Edwin De Los Santos battle at the T-Mobile Arena for the vacant WBC Lightweight world title. Mason has been a staple of ESPN and Top Rank since turning pro in 2021. He last fought Cesar Villarraga in Oklahoma back in August.
Cardenas last fought in July and scored a career-best win. The Laredoan dropped and battered undefeated Hugo Castaneda at the Sames Auto Arena on a spectacular Pound-4-Pound Promotions Card. Additionally, Cardenas has one blemish on his resume: a third-round DQ loss to Marco Castro. An April 2019 affair appeared to have been waved off by the referee in favor of Cardenas, who was in complete control of the scrap and was unaware the bout was being stopped and continued to tee off on Castro while the ref was trying to jump in and wave the bout off. This caused the referee to DQ Cardenas in highly controversial fashion. The South Texan bounced back from the hotly debated DQ loss a few months later and destroyed Diego Contreras in two rounds on a days notice.
Spence vs Barrios? Would Be Great for Texas According to Trainer
Could an All-Texas shootout be on the horizon for fight fans from the Lone Star State? Former WBA 140-pound world champ, 28-year-old "El Azteca" Mario Barrios of San Antonio, is fresh off the best win of his career, a 12-round beat down of former welterweight champion Yordenis Ugas. Ugas lost his claim to the welterweight championship to Errol Spence of DeSoto in his previous bout, in April 2022. Spence went on to lose three of the four straps at the 147-pound title to Terene Crawfordin July. 33-year-old Errol Spence, 28-1 (22), and El Azteca seem to be heading in different directions, and it could easily be argued that Barrios handled Ugas better than Spence did. Ugas had Spence in serious trouble before, Spence got the stoppage in the 10th round.
A fight between the two would have seemed like one-way traffic just a year ago. However, with Barrios surging under new trainer Bob Santos and Spence having gotten beaten down by Crawford, plus all of the outside-of-the-ring issues seem to be heading in completely opposite directions. The fight now seems like a much more competitive affair. The Alamo City and his trainer are now calling for the all-Texas shootout. A fight that could pack out either AT&T Stadium or the Alamodome.
Barrios's trainer said in an interview with 210Boxing, a San Antonio-based YouTube channel, that he wouldn't mind a fight between Barrios and Spence and that "it would be great for Texas." It certainly would be and would have a chance to set all types of attendance records. However, there are some obstacles that could hold up the fight. Spence has activated his rematch clause to fight undisputed champion Crawford, that fight appears to be in the works for February. There's also the issue of weight. Spence seems set on jumping from 147 to 154 and can no longer make the 147 comfortably. Barrios, who started his career a decade ago as a 122-pounder, is having a resurgence in his career and looks sensational at 147, so it seems like he would be unlikely to move off of the weight class in the foreseeable future.
Darius Fulghum Takes His Talent To Golden Boy Promotions
"DFG" Darius Fulghum, a Houston resident who grew up mostly in Killen, is "Destined For Greatness," and he will take his talents to Golden Boy Promotions. The undefeated Super Middleweight has been featured on several Golden Boy cards in 2023. He has been on three of the promotion cards for the last six months, going 3-0 (3) to improve his record to 8-0 (8). He has now agreed to a promotional deal with the Oscar de la Hoya-run company. Golden Boy decided to air his last bout on their main card, and DFG shined!! He stepped up to the occasion and scored a sensational first-round KO of Alan Campa. Campa had just gone the distance with youted prospects Junior Younan, Erik Baninyan, and D'Mitrius Ballard. Campa had been tested by many of the top names from 154 pounds up to 168. A single left hook to the liver ended the night for Campa, and Fulghum extended his KO streak to 8.
Fulghum is excited to be signed by one of the premier boxing promoters in the world, Golden Boy Promotions, and grateful for the managerial work done by 3 PM, his managerial company. “I’m extremely excited to be with Golden Boy,” Fulghum commented. “Oscar (de la Hoya) can push me to new heights. He can get me in big fights. Golden Boy has pushed me out there (on DAZN streams), and I’m relaxed fighting in front of people. I do have to thank 3 PM. They really saved my career. They’ve done an excellent job and are the most professional people I’ve ever worked with."
Tanajara to Battle two-time Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz
San Antonio-based contender Hector Tanajara will get an incredible opportunity to get his career back on track and where everyone projected it to be when the Texan turned pro in 2015. Tanajara will battle Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz on December 9th at the Chase Center in Oakland, California, on the undercard of Regis Prograis Devin Haney.
Tanajara has compiled a career record of 21-1-1 (6) and has won two consecutive fights over the last 12 months as he has attempted to get his career back on track after suffering a loss to William Zepeda in the summer of 2021 and had to settle for a draw with Miguel Contreras in 2022. The Alamo City native's comeback has played out well, as he put forth two dominant performances against Antonio Mejia last November and then dominated Johnny Arrellano of Austin in March.
A Trio of Texans Featured on Top Rank Card.
The Fort Bend Community Center in Rosenberg, Texas, will host this Saturday's middleweight unification bout between WBO champ Zhanibek Alimkhanuly and IBF Champ Vincenzo Gualtieri which will air live on ESPN. The card will feature Giovanni Marquez, 6-0 (4), of Houston, is the son of former US Olympian and Jr Middleweight world champion Raul Marquez. He will take a step up in competition and battle Donte Strayhorn, who is coming off a draw with Fort Worth native Benjamin Gurment in July.
Also on the card is Nelson "Hot Hands" Hampton, a Rio Grande Valley native who has compiled a 10-7 (6) record and is coming off a disputed loss to Roberto Almazan in Mercedes. He will battle unbeaten prospect Alan Garcia 9-0 (8), in a six-round lightweight affair.
We move to the heavyweight division as former college football star and surging heavyweight Tyrell "Too Real" Herndon, 21-4 (14), of San Antonio, puts his nine-fight win streak on the line against perhaps the best US heavyweight prospect to come along in quite some time, 24-year-old US Olympic silver medalist and undefeated professional 6-0 (6) Richard Torrez Jr. It will be a scheduled six-rounder but no one has gone past three round with Torrez thus far.
Miguel Flores Battles Sam Goodman on Tszyu-Mendoza Card
Houston native and fan-favorite all-action fighter Miguel Flores from Houston, Texas, gets a massive opportunity in the co-main event of Tim Tazyu vs Brain Mendoza in Australia on Sunday. The 31-year-old former world title challenger last fought 13 months ago in Las Vegas and fought future Hall of Famer Abner Mares to a draw. After a slow start, the Houstonians rallied and ended up fighting the legend to the draw. He will now fight a surging prospect from New South Wales, Australia, Sam Goodman. Goodman scored the best victory of his career by beating Ra'eese Aleem in June. The Aussie also has a win over former world champ TJ Doheny and is putting himself in a position to be considered for the prospect of the here. Goodman has compiled a 15-0 (7) record. Flores challenged for a world title in November of 2019 and came up just short with the legendary Leo Santa Cruz on the undercard of Wilder-Cruz II. Flores has gone 1-1-1 (0) since he came up short in his world title bid and has compiled a professional record of 25-4-1 (12).
DFG and Sweet T Score KO's in Vegas
"Photo Credit “David Algranati/The Fight Photos"
"DFG" Darius Fulghum, is "destined for greatness." Having turned pro less than two years ago, he picked up his eighth win and eighth KO in his eight professional fights. He has fought four times in the last four months and five times so far in 2023 and plans on fighting again later in the year. He has been fighting once a month since the summer and shows no signs of slowing down. The Texan is making a strong case for "Prospect of the Year." The super middleweight who grew up in Killeen and now makes his way in Houston looked sensational last night in Las Vegas as he stopped a formidable opponent in less than one round. Alan Campa compiled an 18-8 (9) record and had just gone the distance with Junior Younan in his last outing. He was, however, no match for the Texan. After putting on a masterclass for most of the first round Fulghum scored with a short left hand to the body that put Campa down and unable to get up. Giving Fulghum the first-round stoppage.
Also on the card was Duncanville native Tristan "Sweet T" Kalkreuth, who moved his record to 12-1 (9), by picking up a fifth-round stoppage of Aaron Casper. Casper had previously fought Khalil Coe, a touted Matchroom prospect, to a four-found draw.
Igbokwe and Two San Antonians Shine in Sugar Land
In the evening's main event, promising young super flyweight prospect Guillermo Gutierrez of San Antonio put on a high-level performance in moving his record to 9-0 (1), capturing the ABF Atlantic title and handily winning the battle of unbeaten prospects and handing Hector Valdes his first career loss. Gutierrez showed off his complete bag, worked behind a southpaw jab, and picked Valdes apart from the outside. He seamlessly switched between the southpaw and conventional stances, scoring with uppercuts on the inside and landing well-placed right hooks when in the southpaw stance. Switching between stances is something Guitierrez says "comes naturally to me." In complete control throughout, Guiterrez outworked and outlandered his outgunned opponent. A head-butt opened a cut above the eye of the Alamo City native, but it had no impact on him as the San Antonian shook it off, remained in control, and closed the show like a champ. A beautiful right hook rocked Valdez early in the final round. Gutierrez stayed on the attack and ripped beautiful body shots to the body of Valdes. Never letting off the gas, the unbeaten Guiterrez cruised to a unanimous decision victory by scores of 60-54 X3.
Fellow San Antonian Jason Limon also picked up an impressive victory, bringing the fight to unbeaten southpaw prospect Christian Foley, of Bryan. Limon used his jab to back Foley up, a southpaw who is known for his power, worked predominantly off the jab and was losing the battle of the jabs. In addition to winning the battle of the jabs, Limon was able to score with the occasional lead left hook and was putting rounds in the bank. The highlight athletic Foley was using movement to negate the pressure of Limon and avoid much of his artillery but didn't offer up much offense, refusing to open up at times. With the fight slipping away, Foley picked up the pace a bit in the sixth and final round and scored with some flurries, one of which caught the attention of Limon, who answered right back and tagged Foley with a left hook. The competitive scrap ended without a bang, and Limon picked up the ABF Welterweight title as well as the Texas State title, taking a majority decision by scores of 59-55, 58-56, and the third judge handing in an ever 57-57 card.
Houston native Raphael Igbokwe survived a tough scrap from a game and rugged Imaud Louis. Igbokwe, a southpaw, got off to a fast start, scoring with a three-piece combination that drove Louis back into the ropes. Igbokwe landed clean power shots while on the inside. He scored with a straight left that again drove his opponent into the ropes late in the opening round. Louis was game throughout and bounced back in the second and third rounds. He was able to land his jab and score the occasional flurry to Keep Igbokwe honest. He scored with a clean right hand that stopped his opponent in his tracks. Late in the round Louis landed another three-piece combination and followed it with a wide right hand that landed cleanly. Likely his best shot of the night, Igbokwe ate in well though, and kept coming forward. As the scheduled six-rounder seemed fairly even at the midway point, it was Igbokwe that seemed much fresher as Louis was breathing heavily. Igbokwe stayed aggressive and on the front foot. He dominated the second half of the fight. Getting the fight to where he wanted it on the inside. Igbokwe mixed up his head and body shot and scored with a vicious left uppercut that was able to consistently split the guard of his opponent. A fun, high-action contest ended in a clear-cut unanimous decision for Igbokwe by scores of 60-54, 59-55, and 58-56. He moved his record 17-5 (7) as Louis, also of Houston, dropped to 6-1 (4).
Dickinson native and son of nearby fan-favorite Eugene Hill, Eugene Hill Jr was given a tougher-than-expected scrap with Marcelo Fabian Bzowski. originally of Buenos Aires, Argentina, now fighting out of San Antonio. Bzowski hadn't won since 2019 and lost 13 fights in a row against a lot of quality opposition. He showed up to win and pushed Hill to the limit. Hill brought the pressure and mixed up head and body shots that took some steam out of his Argentine opponent. However, Bzowski would not go away and landed straight lefts and mixed up head and body shots well. Bzowski came on strong in the second half and it negated the early success, and the two combatants had to settle for a three-way draw. The draw ended the losing streak of Bzowski and put the first minor blemish on the record of the Dickinson native.
A star was born in Houston native Oscar Perez, who moved his record to 7-0-2 (5). The young, southpaw, lightweight worked patiently behind a jab against his veteran opponent, Yesner Talavera, 15-8-1 (4), until his opening arrived, and it did at around the 2-minute mark in the opening round a swift, counter right hook dropped Talavera. Talavera made it to his feet, but Perz stayed on the attack, driving his outmatched opponent backward with a barrage of power shots. He scored with another solid right hook right before the bell sounded to end the first lopsided round. Perez got back to work in the second, just past the minute mark, a left hand from the Houstonian found its target and buckled Talavera. Perez unleashed about half a dozen power shots that mostly landed cleanly and dropped his opponent once again. Talavera again beat the count, but his corner rushed in to stop the fight and give Perez the second-round KO stoppage victory.
In a four-round affair, Malik "One Punch" Calhoun, who trains out of FHG Gym in Fort Worth, picked up a thrilling split decision victory to move his record to 3-1 (2), the 6'4, southpaw shook off a slow first-round and knocked Bruno Pola down in the second round. He kept the momentum going in the early stages of the third round, but Pola, who trains out of San Antonio, redirected the momentum late in the third and had Calhoun in a bit of trouble late in the third and the fourth. The judges however favored the early work from Calhoun by scores of 38-37 X2, with the third judge favoring Pola by the same 38-37 score.
Also on the card was John Atiles, of Cypress, who moved to 5-0-1 (0) with an impressive points victory.