Guillermo Gutierrez

Championship Boxing Returns to Laredo

Laredo is quickly emerging as one of the great fight cities in the country, and big-time boxing will return to the Gateway City on April 20th. The Sames Auto Arena will host several title fights including, Laredo's own Felix "Gatito" Garcia, 8-0 (1), who puts his undefeated record against McAllen native Hugo Castaneda, 13-1-1 (9), for the vacant WBC Youth Super featherweight title. Castaneda, who previously captured the WBO super featherweight title by stopping Maykol Mendoza late in 2022, will take a massive step in competition for Garcia. The Laredo native, who just turned 18 and has been a pro for two years, is one of the brightest young prospects anywhere in the sport.

The card also features an all-action, can't miss, fan-friendly slugfest between hometown favorite Alex "Bazooka" Ramos 7-1 (3), who is riding a five-fight win streak since his lone career loss to undefeated prospect Javier Fernandez in 2021. He will battle emerging prospect Travis Crawford from nearby Corpus Christi, Crawford 6-2 (2). Crawford got off to a 0-2 start in his career, dropping contests to a pair of highly touted prospects in Xavier Bocanegra of Donna, Texas, and Ronny Reyes. He has blown away everyone in his path since, winning six fights in a row. Both the Texas state title and the WBC Youth lightweight title will be on the line.

All-world prospect Daniel Blancas will also be in action, the 8-0 (4), all-world prospect who is projected to be a future world champion will take on hard-hitting Mexican KO artist Bruno Pola, 7-2-1 (6), who looks to bounce back from his loss to Fort Worth-based prospect Malik Calhoun both the ABF and WBC Youth titles are at stake.

Two other bouts of note that will be held on this exciting Pound 4 Pound card. In a showdown between undefeated featherweights for an ABF strap, Carrizo Springs native Juan Garcia, 4-0(2), will take on Gary Hampton, 5-0 (0) of Fort Worth. Hampton has beaten undefeated fighters in each of his last two fights. Plus Laredo native Jaime Jasso, 4-2 (0), will look to revenge his 2021 loss to San Antonio native Guillermo Gutierrez, 10-0 (1), in a very close and competitive fight. Both fighters have shown vast improvements over the last 2+ years, and this one promises to be as competitive and exciting as the first fight.

Texas 6 -Shooters! Six Texans Who Can Take a Huge Step Forward in 20024

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.

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.

An Incredible Weekend in South Texas

Three action-packed cards invade the south Texas area. Plus, Rio Grande Valley native and former world champion Brandon " The Heartbreaker" Figueroa headlines a Showtime card in southern California.

The action kicks off in Floresville on a Team Morones Boxing Card. A small town of about 7,000 people located about a half hour south of San Antonio will host a major card. In the evening's main event, two unbeaten south texas based bantamweights put their undefeated record on the line as San Antonio native Guillermo Gutierrez puts his 6-0 record on the line against Rio Grande Valley native Jaden Burnias (2-0-2) in the evening's main event. The card also features undefeated Victoria native, Ramon Acosta and Joshua Moreno, 2-0 will battle with Jesus Angulo Leija in a welterweight bout.

Boxing returns to the home of the legendary world champ Orlando and Gaby Canizales Laredo, The Gateway City. Triple AAA promotions will bring you a card live from Sames Auto Arena. Fan Favorite "Tito" Hector Ferreyro Jr returns to the ring for the first time in three years and will look to move his record to 5-0 as he battles Tre' Dobbins of Topeka, Kansas in a four-round Cruiserweight scrap. Also, on the card will be two up-and-coming Laredo natives Jose Cardenas (6-1) and teenage sensation the blue-chip prospect Felix Garcia.

Saturday's other card will be held in boxing's newest hotbed. The Rio Grande Valley. The Hynes Event Center in Mercedes will host the return of three RGV fight legends, each in separate fights. Raul Casarez and Roberto Garcia, who were originally scheduled to fight each other will be in action in separate fights. Casarez will battle for the vacant ABF Mid America Title as he takes on Rodrigo Octavio Gonzalez, who hails from the Austin area. Garcia will also be in action. Also, fans will get to see the return of hard-hitting cruiserweight and Harlingen native Raphael Murphy returns to the ring for the first time in nearly two years as he battles Leopoldo Reyna of Brownsville in an all RGV scrap.

In southern California, former 122-pound world champ and Weslaco native Brandon Figueroa will headline the evening's main event that will take place at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California, and will be aired on Showtime, Figueroa, 23-1-1 (18), held world titles from 2019-2022. The now 26-year-old is on a new journey to become a two-division world champion. He battles former featherweight champ Mark Magsayo in a 12-round affair. The bout will be for the WBC interim featherweight belt. The winner will be in line to fight WBC world champ Rey Vargas, who lost his bid to become a three-division world champ when he was shut out by Orange native O'shaquie Foster in the Alamodome last month for the WBC 130-pound strap. Vargas still holds the belt at 126 pounds.

Small Town Hosts Big-Time Shootout Between undefeated Gun Slingers 

Floresville is a small town about a half-hour south of San Antonio, population 7,000. A blip on the radar for those outside of the Lone Star State. However, on Friday, March 3rd, the small town will host a  major boxing event. The south Texas town will host a Team Morones Boxing (TMB)  promoted card that is headlined by two undefeated welterweights with world championship ambitions. 14-0-1 (7) Robert Garcia, 21 years old of Austin, against 22-year-old, Victoria native Ramon Acosts 4-0 (4).

Floresville City Manager Andy Joslin is excited to host the event  " We’re so honored to have Ricky Morones and Morones Boxing family bring boxing to our town... It’s a great event, and we are looking forward to it! "

It is a rare occurrence in today's boxing environment, that two young, touted fighters are willing to risk the "0" in their L column against such a dangerous opponent.  However, that's exactly what Garcia and Acosta are going to do on March 3rd. When asked if either fighter had any hesitation or needed any convincing to take such a big step up, Morones said, "It wasn't difficult at all. They both wanted it. We agreed on the purse, got out the contracts, and got everything going."  

It seems simple enough, but it is an increasingly difficult thing to do in this sport, to get two young, undefeated fighters in the ring together. However, as a result of Morones's work plus Acota and Garcia's willingness to take the risk, the town of Floresville will have a world-class, high-level, meaningful boxing match that also appears to be a 50-50 slugfest on paper.

"It's great! We're so proud to have the event here." City Manager Joslin added.

When Morones, who has been bringing exciting fights to the San Antonio area for 10 years, including delivering cards featuring Bam Rodriguez and Rick Medina, was asked if this is the best main event he has ever made. Morones answered, " I've had some good main events. I always try to put together exciting main events. I had Jairo Castaneda vs James Cantu... but this is a really good fight on paper."

It's a great fight! It's not just a fight between two elite, world-level fighters. It's a can't miss, all-action scrap. Morones noted, "Acosta doesn't take a step backward, and Garcia is a young, strong fighter with a lot of power and a good chin."

The main event has all the ingredients to create an absolutely violent explosion on March 3rd and, create an unforgettable fight that moves the win a major step closer to world title contention. "It's a small town, I have to have a big main event," the promoter added.

In addition to the main event, another important battle of unbeaten fighters will be featured on the card. Highly touted San Antonio-based super flyweight prospect Guillermo Gutierrez, 6-0 (1), will take the biggest challenge of his young and promising career. He puts his unbeaten record on the line against fellow unbeaten and Rio Grande Valley native Jaden Burnias, 2-0-2 (2) in a six-round affair.

Frank Gore Headlines TMB Promoted Card in San Antonio

Frank Gore is the NFL's all-time leading rusher with 16,000 career rushing yards. The list is:

1. Emmit Smith

2. Walter Payton

3. Frank Gore

That's the list. That's the level Frank Gore operated at in the NFL during an incredible career that ran from 2005-2020 that also saw Gore collect 81 career rushing TDs and 3985 receiving yards. The future football hall of Famer has now embarked on a successful prizefighting career. After an exhibition bout with former NBA legend and graduate of The Colony High School in the DFW Metroplex, Deron Williams. Gore embarked on a professional career that got off to a spectacular start knocking out Olasehinde Olorunsola in the fourth round in their fight back in May in Biloxi. Mississippi. He returns to the ring on a Team Morones Boxing Card in San Antonio at the Freeman Coliseum. He will scrap with San Antonio local Joshua Romero (0-2) in a four-round heavyweight affair.

The co-main event will showcase the return of one of San Antonio's favorite fighting sons Richard "El Castigo '' Medina (13-1). He looks to bounce back off of his lone career defeat in June when he was outpointed by Raymond Ford at the Tech Port Arena. He will battle with fellow Alamo City native Steve Garagarza (3-5-1)

Also on the card is hard-hitting fan favorite "Worldstar" Arredondo, who returns to the ring after his draw with "Fort Worth Wolf" Tony Lopez in Frisco. Arrendondo, 8-1-1, will battle with rugged veteran Rafael Reyes, 20-15, in a scheduled six-rounder. Undefeated Flyweight prospect Guillermo Gutierrez will also be in action.

The card also has two very intriguing women's bouts. Professional model, ring girl, and amateur stand-out Mayra Rodriguez will make her pro-debut against undefeated Dallas native Abril Anguiano in a scheduled four-rounder. Also, all-action fan favorite Mi Vida Loca" Brittany Ordonez returns to the ring and will battle Destiny Jones in a six-round affair.

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.