Texas has run boxing for quite some time now. The pound-for-pound lists have been littered with Lone Star State natives. The following six fighters could potentially carry that load and be the next era of elite, world-class Texas fighters.
1. David Cardenas- San Antonio. San Antonio has produced a heck of a lot of great little men, and Cardenas could certainly be the next guy. Cardenas turned pro this summer in Mexico and shook off a jittery opening round to score a second round and has dominated every moment of every round since. He scored three consecutive KO's and then dominated Richard Hernandez, a veteran of 14 professional fights in December. Cardenas will be back in the ring in his home city on March 1st. Cardenas has solid pop for the weight, a sky-high ring IQ, and world-class feet. He is also best friends with San Antonio Spurs superstar Keldon Johnson, who can be seen in his entourage at each of his fights. Cardenas won multiple national championships in multiple weight classes as an amateur.
2. Felix Garcia- Laredo "El Gatito" the son of solid professional fighter. Garcia has already accumulated a record of 8-0 (1) and has just turned 18 years old. He turned pro in nearby Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. The 18-year-old is being moved quickly and has already fought eight rounders. He has also headlined cards. At just 17, the youngester headlined the Sames Auto Arena in his home city, and scored a unanimous decision over Jose Casiano. The Laredo nativ then followed that up with a points victory over undefeated Joseph Johnson and ended the year by fighting an eight-rounder in Mexico. The single KO in his eight pro fights is not indicative of his power. Garcia is still growing into his weight division (super featherweight), has tremendous agility and moves well is an excellent combination puncher who likes to march forward. Gatito is also fundamentally very sound and defensively responsible for an aggressive, action fighter
3. Joel Martinez- Fort Worth, "The Owl" is a bit of a unicorn, 6'1, southpaw, featherweight with tremendous one-punch power. After watching the hard-hitting Southpaw make his pro debut in November of 2021, I told him his biggest challenge was going to be hetting quality fighters to fight him. While, inactivity has played a part in his development. Martinez has secured four professional fights and expects to be back in the ring in February in Fort Worth. He is trained at FHG, the same gym as Edward Vazquez and John Vera, with coach Ray Berrera. He settled for a draw in July against "Gusto" Sean Brewer, and all things considered, that's not so bad. Outside of that, the consistent jab and massive left hand that the Fort Worthian sports has been unstoppable. He sports a 3-0-1 (2) record.
4 Oscar Perez- Houston, The lone Houstonian on the list, may be the closest to taking that big step forward and fighting on a massive stage. The southpaw lightweight, sports an 8-0-2 (6) record and ended 2023 with KO's of John Herrera and before that scored a second-round TKO of Yesner Talavera in his own backyard. The 24-year-old already has a win over rugged journeyman Clay Burns of Fort Worth. Perez knocked out, KO artist Omar Urieta of Tyler in the second round and went in as the B-Side to fight Anthony Cuba in Los Angeles at the Crypto Arena on the undercard of Andy Ruiz VS Luis Ortiz and settled for a disputed draw in a fight that must observers that he won. A fight with 2023's winner of this award, RGV native Fabian Diaz, would be an intriguing fight and an interesting test for both men.
5. Guillermo Guiterrez- San Antonio, the second Alamo City native, just missed making our list last year and was certainly a part of it this year. The 25-year-old made rapid improvements and should be in line for a big-time fight in 2024. In 2023 his three opponents in 2023 had a combined record of 10-1-5. He beat Jaden Burnias. The lack of power that the Alamo City's native suggests may help Guiterrez out in securing a big-time fight. San Antonio produced two recent world champions in the super flyweight division in recent years with Josh Franco and Bam Rodriguez. Given his skills and combination punching, Guiterrez has a legitimate chance to join them as 115-pound world champions
6-. Travis Crawford- Corpus Christi. Corpus Christi has produced some good fighters in recent years: Xavier Nunez, John Rincon, and emerging amateur Julian Delgado, who will make his professional debut shortly, all top that list. 21-year-old lightweight Travis Crawford wasn't supposed to be among them. However, the massive leap he took in 2023, going 5-0 (2) and moving his current win streak to six, combined with his all-action, fan-friendly style, made Crawford, who started his career off at 0-2, become one of the top young fighters to watch. His career started with losses to hard-hitting monster Xavier Bocanegra, who is the prized pupil of legendary hall of fame traineer Ronnie Shields, and then a controversial loss to Joe DeGuardia promoted prospect Ronny Reyes in Reyes's backyard in a fight that Crawford probably deserved the nod. Crawford brings his all-out, fan-friendly stlye back to the ring on January 20th in Tennessee.