Jasso Defends Title at San Antonio's Tech Port

Big Time Boxing returns to the Bing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio tomorrow night when it hosts a Pound 4 pound Entertainment card. The Tech Port held its first ever boxing event back in the summer of 2022 which was headlined by San Antonio native Bam Rodriguez, who destroyed legendary little man Srisaket Sor Rungvisai via 8th round stoppage. The card was opened up by Jesus "Panterita" Martinez of Del Rio who took a four round decision over Keven Monroy. The arena has been linked to South Texas boxing and high level South Texas boxers. Tomorrow's card is no different as 6-2 (1) super flyweight Jaime Jasso from Laredo defends his WBC Silver Super Flyweight title against Josue Morales, a rugged veteran of nearly 50 professional fights with a record of 30-14-4 (12). Morales has been in the ring with world-class fighters like Bam Rodriguez, Hector Valdez, Nico Hernandez and Rudy Garcia. Jasso is riding a four-fight winning streak that should be six. Two wins, both by knockouts, were taken off the board by the Texas Commission. One of those wins was an epic, posterizing KO of unbeaten prospect Timothy Longoria that would put his record at 8-2 (3). In that win streak, he also exacted a loss early in his career when he outpointed undefeated prospect Guillermo Gutierrez over eight rounds. A win over Morales, a Houston native,  would put Jasso on track to begin competing at the world-class level and would elevate him to the highest level of prospects in the 115-pound division.

Also, on the card is a pair of women's title fights as Reina Tellez, 10-0-1 (5) of San Antonio puts her NABF title on the line against Mexican contender Perla Lomeli, 6-3 (0). Also, Gabriela Tellez 2-0 (0)  will battle Chiara Dituri of Brooklyn, NY, for the NABF lightweight title. 

The south Texas favorites will also be on the card as Laredo native Nick Molina looks to continue his winning ways as he puts his 6-2-1 (5) on the line against Corpus Christi native, fan favorite and amateur national champion "King" Julian Delgado in a six-round 168-pound fight. Delgadi turned pro in April and sports a 3-0 (1) record. KO artist Javier Vargas, of McAllen, looks to continue winning ways as he takes on Mexican tough guy Jesus Maldonado, 6-10-1 (4) in a six-round welterweight fight.  Vargas, 5-2 (3) has won two fights in a row since taking a very close and controversial loss to highly touted prospect David Whitmire in 2023 on the undercard of Rolly Romero vs Ismael Barroso.

Three Texans Look to Shine in Vegas on PBC Card

On Saturday, May 13th, three Texans will take to Las Vegas and look to take a major step forward in their respective careers. In the evening's co-main event, Omar "El Relampago" Juarez, 14-1 (5), of Brownsville, takes the biggest fight of his career as he battles former two-division world champion Rances Barthelemy, 29-2-1 (15), of Havana, Cuba. Juarez is now 23 years old and has scored three highly impressive victories since his lone career defeat to All Rivera in the Summer of 2021. A win here gets the Rio Grande Valley native into the title picture. The 23-year-old has brought in the help of world-famous strength and conditioning coach Tony Brady to prepare for the biggest fight of his professional career.

On the undercard portion of the card is PBC's 2022 Prospect of the Year, Michael Angeletti, 7-0 (6), of Spring, Texas. Angelletti will battle rugged Venezuelan contender Michell Banquez 20-3 (14), in a Super Bantamweight bout. Banquez recently fought San Antonio native Ramon Cardenas in San Antonio and gave the touted prospect a competitive 10-round scrap. Angeletti, who is also nearing a world title shot, last fought in October and blew away fellow undefeated prospect Jeremy Adorno in just five rounds. Angeletti dominated his outmatched opponent in every single round and made Adorno quit on the stool following the fifth round.

Also on the card is hard-hitting, fan-favorite, knockout artist Javi Vargas 3-1 (3), of McAllen. Vargas suffered the lone defeat of his career back in December. The McAllen native has bounced back nicely and, in April scored a sensational first-round TKO of Milton Banks in San Antonio on a P4P Promotions card. He will enter as the B-side, but as a very live dog as he battles undefeated 154-pound prospect David Whitmire, 1-0 (1) of Washington DC. Whitmire made his pro debut in February in San Antonio and scored a brutal first-round TKO of fellow Rio Grande Valley native Keith Foreman.

World Championship Level Boxing Returns to the RGV

The Rio Grande Valley will once again host elite-level boxing. Former Junior Middleweight world champion Austin "No Doubt" Trout will battle local favorite Jose Charles in the main event of an absolutely stacked card that is promoted by Pound 4 Pound Entertainment and will be held at the Payne Arena in Hidalgo and aired on ESPN Knockout.

Trout captured the WBA 154-pound strap back in 2011 when he outpointed Rigoberto Alvarez. From 2011 to 2012, he successfully defended it four times, most notably against Miguel Cotto at Madison Square Garden. Trout was able to outbox the Hall of Famer and Puerto Rican legend and pull a massive betting upset in what became fairly one-sided down the end of the fight. In his next fight Trout came to the Lone Star State and came up on the wrong end of a very close and controversial decision with Canelo Alvarez at the Alamodome. Trout, a native of Las Cruces, New Mexico, sports a career record of 35-5-1. In addition to Cotto and Alvarez, he has shared the ring with both Charlo Twins, Jarrett Hurd, and Erislandy Lara, He has a win over Delvin Rodriguez and a draw with former US Olympian Terrell Gausha back in 2019. He last fought in July and outpointed Florin Cardos in Germany.

Trout will battle local fan favorite Jose Charles, 20-2-1. Charles last fought in May at the Freeman Coliseum, dominating and outpointing Adam Ealoms of Bryan, Texas. He has won four fights in a row since being narrowly outpointed by touted Spanish prospect Cesar Nunez back in 2017. Charles's best win came in May of 2021 when he outpointed Raul Ortega in Reynosa, Mexico.

The Co-main event features highly touted 140-pound prospect and Rio Grande Valley native Sammy "El Fino Gallo" Castaneda. Castaneda, a hard-hitting prospect, ran off eight consecutive victories to start his career before settling for a disputed draw with Julio Sanchez of Houston in September at the Payne Arena. He looks to settle the score and fix the lone blemish on his track record. Castaneda, a highly regarded prospect, wanted the rematch and was willing to do whatever necessary to get it. He was able to secure the rematch and looks to make things right and get back on track to a world title.

The card will also feature former title holder Oscar Escandon who looks to get back in the world title picture in the featherweight division. Several other south Texas-based fighters will also be showcased in an absolutely stacked and exciting undercard. Quick-fisted and hard-hitting bantamweight Jaime Jasso of Laredo will battle with Roberto Cantu Pena. Fellow Gateway City natives Alex Ramos and Nicholas Molina will also be in intriguing four-round bouts. The card will also feature Rio Grande Valley native and knockout artist Javier Vargas. Vargas scored two knockouts in his two professional bouts. He scored a KO of the Year type of knockout when he fought in the Payne Arena back in September.

Sammy Castaneda Settles for Tough Luck Draw, Other South Texans Shine at Payne Arena

Sammy "El Gallo Fino"  Castaneda of Mercedes returned to the Rio Grande Valley for the first time since his pro debut, which was changed from a TKO victory in 2019 to a NC by the Texas commission.  His other eight pro bouts took place in the Houston area and Matamoros, Mexico. Castaneda entered the ring to the lyrics of "I am coming Home" and received roaring applause from his RGV faithful. Setting the stage for Castaneda to deliver a brilliant performance against Houston native Julio Sanchez. After a careful and fairly even start to the opening round, Castaneda landed the first punch of consequence. A sweeping right hand at the end of the first caught the attention of Sanchez. The second round saw Sanchez trying to get on the inside and Castaneda trying to keep him at bay. A heated exchange in the final seconds of the second stanza saw each man land heavy artillery which set the tone for the remainder of the scrap. The RGV native got cooking in the third. Rocking the Houstonian early in the round and seemed to seize control of the fight for the remainder of the third and fourth rounds. Chants of Sammy, Sammy, spread throughout the Payne Arena. However, Sanchez perhaps seeing the fight slipping away on points, forced his way onto the inside and the two exchanged fireworks in the fifth. Sanchez was valiantly trying to fight his way back into the fight. The final stanza featured back and forth toe to toe action that ended with a big right hand by Castaneda that rang Sanchez's bell as the bell rang to end the sixth and final round. That shot seemed to signify the fight. A good competitive fight that Castaneda got the better of. That was the sentiment at ringside that Castaneda had escaped a tougher than expected contest. However, the judges overruled the ringside consensus, scoring the bout a majority decision draw by scores of 57-57 X2 and 58-56 in favor of the Mercedes native. 

In another absolutely shocking decision, Laredo-based KO artist Nick Molina seemed to dominate Eduardo Guerra of Edinburg in what was likely the fight of the night due to Guerra's cast iron jaw. However, outside of a strong hometown applause from the crowd, Guerra struggled to get much going offensively after the first round. By the fourth and final round, he was a sitting duck for Molina's heavy artillery. Working behind a stiff jab and pinpoint power shots, the Gateway City native couldn't miss and kept rocking Guerra in what appeared to be a one-sided affair. However, the judges did the unthinkable and scored the bout a draw. With one judge scoring for Molina 40-36 and the other two scoring it 38-38. 

Fellow Laredo native "Triple J" faired much better with the judges, showing off incredible hand speed and combination punching. Jasso controlled the distance and beat down a very rugged Juan Alberto Flores. A 21-year-old Jasso looked experienced beyond his years and has seemed to get into his own under new trainer Luey Villareal as he ran off his second consecutive win and moved his record to 4-2 (1).

In the KO of the night, McAllen native Javier Vargas scored a brutal first-round knockout of Houston-based Dominique Wiltz. A picture-perfect left hook from the McAllen native put Wiltz out before he hit the canvas. Wiltz somehow managed to get to his feet just as the referee counted to 10. However, he was in no position to continue fighting and the bout was waived off at 1:11 of the opening round. Making Vargas's pro debut a successful one. Having had just 18 amateur bouts plus coming off of a four-year layoff from boxing, Vargas certainly seems like a fighter who could make some noise if he remains active.

In what was the performance of the night 18-year-old Edinburg native "The Unknown Warrior" Fabian Diaz wowed the crowd. Looking like a young Teofimo Lopez, the explosive power of the RGV native was on display immediately as his outmatched opponent, Jesus Maldonado. Sending him backward and staggering into the ropes just seconds into the fight.  Diaz then unleashed a three-punch-combination that again staggered Maldonado. He spent the next three rounds showing off just how deep his bag is. Landing lead hooks and lead uppercuts. Each shot was precise and on point and snapping back the head of his brave but outclassed opponent. Diaz finished on a strong note. Scoring with a lightning-quick three-punch combination. As he methodically took his man apart over the four-round distance and scored a UD victory by scores 40-36x3. Winning every round on every judge's card.

In other knockouts of note, Hector Aguirre, of Edinburg scored a vicious knockout via a thudding left hook to move his record to 3-0 (1). Plus Alexis "Bamm Bamm" Balderas, of San Juan, ended Keith  Foreman's night with a perfectly placed body shot in the second round to move his record to 2-0-1 (2).