Castaneda and Juarez Score KO's on Night of Mixed Results for Laredo Fighters

Photo Credit: Cristian Rios Photography

It's been four years since Jorge Castaneda last fought in his home city of Laredo, and the now 26-year-old was eager to put a show on for his hometown fans, and he did exactly that. After somewhat of a slow start, Castaneda got cooking and sealed the deal with a thudding one-punch knockout that put Rio Grande Valley native Nestor Medellin out cold. In what was a highly competitive fight early, it ended abruptly. The early rounds saw Castaneda jabbing and boxing beautifully but may have given some rounds away by letting Medellin back him against the ropes and unleash power shots and outwork him on the inside. Castaneda got going in the third Castaneda began circling and firing off his jab. The pin-point jab set up a left hook that scored on Medellin's body and took some steam out. Medellin answered back immediately with a hook to the Gateway City native's head that slowed Castaneda down. When the Laredo native jabbed and circled, he had success the RGV native found his success on the inside, where he could score his hooks and uppercuts. However, the body attack from Castaneda was persistent. The scrap was very competitive but saw Castaneda start to pull ahead in the second half of the scheduled eight-rounder. In the eighth perhaps Medellin saw the fight slipping away on the cards, and he valiantly slammed on the gas, bringing the fight to Castaneda. He scored with a left hook early sending the hometown fighter reeling into the ropes. However, Castaneda slid off the ropes and got back behind his jab. Medellin worked his way back on the inside, and the two exchanged power shots in the close range. However, his punches no longer had the same steam, and with just under a minute to go in the fight, Castaneda unleashed the right hand from hell! A perfectly placed uppercut that about took his opponets to head off and put him on the canvas and out as the referee immediately waved the bout off without a count. Castaneda moved his record to 15-2 (11).

It was the first fight for Castaneda with his new trainer Marcos Caballero who is the trainer of legendary four-division future hall of famer Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez. Caballero was highly impressed with Castaneda, who he has worked with for just over a month "We made a lot of improvements, and he listens well." Caballero said.

"El Mago" Josh Juarez started his career and had the bulk of his success in the light heavyweight division. He tried his hand last year as a smaller heavyweight and scored a first-round knockout. Juarez Saturday night as a 241-pound heavyweight and gave forth a dominating performance. He possessed the same hand speed and skills that he sported as a light heavy. He rocked Leopoldo Reyna with a right hand around the midway point of the first round showing his power carried up through the division. He got back behind his jab and was landing it with accuracy. He was able to consistently make Reyna miss and tag him with a counter shot when he did. Another left hook came in and rocked Reyna again just moments later. He scoffed with another right hand just before the bell to end the opening round. The second picked up exactly where the first left off, with Juarez in complete control. The Laredo native walked his man down with his jab and landed clean right hands. A barrage of right hands put the overwhelmed opponent down a minute into the second. Juarez stayed patient, and another right hand rocked Reyna as the two exchanged some words. Clearly, on wobbled legs, Reyna was eating one big shot after another, and his corner came in and called a halt to the bout. The stoppage gave Juarez his 11th win and 6th stoppage in 11 pro bouts. The goal for Juarez is to stay busy and be back in the ring before the end of 2023. The 26-year-old showed the speed, power, and skill set that can take him far in the heavyweight division.

Other Laredo fan favorites had their comebacks stalled out. Hector "Baby Hurricane" Ferreyro Jr suffered the first loss of his young and promising career. The son of the former heavyweight belt holder was caught with a right hand early from Jesus Gomez, and he never fully recovered from it. He found himself on the canvas and was able to beat the count, but Gomez slammed on the gas and landed a barrage of power shots that put the Laredo native out cold. Ferreyro dropped to 6-1 (3), and Ferreryo was 2-0 with two first-round knockouts after a three-year layoff from March 2020 to March 2023.

Leopoldo Martinez returned to the ring for the first time since back-to-back losses to Kingsville native Oscar Cantu and fellow Gateway City native Jaime Jasso in 2020. The three-and-a-half-year layoff proved to be too much for Martinez as he was knocked out in the first round by Jose Casiano of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico

Also on the card was Laredo native Mario Ramirez, who made his pro debut a successful one scoring a dominant one-sided point victory over Alex Ramirez, also of Laredo, who was also making his pro debut. Mario dominated the fight with a pin-point accurate jab and a thudding left hook and won the four-round jr middleweight affair by scores of 40-36 x2 and 39-37 to move his record to 1-0 (0).

Jorge Castaneda & Josh Juarez Return to Laredo August 19th

Laredo, the 10th largest city in the Lone Star State, is quickly becoming a major boxing hotbed. Two of their biggest and brightest stars will return home on August 19th at the Sames Auto Arena on a Triple A Promotions card. In the main event, Jorge Castaneda, 15-2 (11) will battle undefeated Nestor Medellin, 9-0 (4), in an eight-round featherweight affair and battle of the 956. Castaneda has been around the world and has upset victories over Otha Jones III and  Youssef Khoumari in the UK and last fought in Mexico and was stopped by Eduardo Hernandez on the undercard of Hiroto Kyoguchi vs Esteban Bermudez that aired live on DAZN. He now looks to bounce back in his hometown against Medellin who has a hotly debated split decision victory over fellow Laredo native Jorge Ramos in his last outing back in 2020. Its been three years out of the ring for Medelian who fights out of Harligen. Castaneda has acquired a number of straps including ABF belts as well as the WBC Youth intercontinental super featherweightr belt as well as the WBC International silver belt at ther same weight weight calss.

In the co-main event fan favorite undefeated boxer-puncher Josh Juarez, 10-0 (5), will also retrun to the ring. Juarez scored an impressive unamioud decision victory over Neller Obergon in a battle of unbeaten prospects then outpointed  Emmanuel Sanchez on a Golden Boy card in Grand Prairie. He then had a nearly three year lay off before returning to the ring last July and destroying Randy McCarty in less than one-round. Now he looks to continue his come back against Leopoldo Reyna 11-3-1 (4), of Brownsville in a six-round heavyweight contest. Reyna last fought in March and was stopped by Raphael Murphy in one round. Juarez has competed at both heavyweight and Light Heavyweight in the past and has talked about settling in at cruiserweight in the future. 

The undercard portion will also feature Hector "Tito"  Ferreyro Jr, 6-0 (3), who has scored two consecutive first-round KO's in his comeback including earlier this month when he destroyed Rafael Munoz. He will battle Mexican Jesus Gomez Rodriguez, 5-3 (4), who alst fought San Antoni native Eddie Ortiz in his last fight in 2019. The card also features Jose Cardenas who looks to keep the momentum going after his upset victory over "Tigre" Hugo Castaneda on July 1. 

Josh Juarez, looks Sharp in Return, Eyes Cruiserweight Division

"El Mago '' Joshua Juarez of Laredo returned to the ring in his hometown after a more than two-year layoff in sensational fashion. Moving up to heavyweight for the first time in his career, Juarez scored a sensational first-round knockout out of veteran Randy McCarty. It was exactly what you would want from a prospect returning from a prolonged layoff. Juarez described the scene "It felt great after being away from the ring... I didn't feel any ring rust. We had a good crowd in Laredo."

It was the first time since 2018 that the Gateway City native fought in front of his hometown fans. He was more than excited to be back in front of his native Laredoans. An opportunity he jumped at " Perfect! Let's get it." Juarez exclaimed when informed of the opportunity by his manager, Lamont Roach Sr. He admitted he did have some nerves " I thank God, He blessed me with fighting in Laredo. I had a little Jitters to see how it was fighting at heavyweight."

If the 25-year-old had jitters, they didn't last long as McCarty didn't make it out of the first round. " I wanted to impress in my first fight back. I wanted a knockout. I expected him to go all six rounds. This guy had 11 professional fights... He had 50-something or 60-something MMA fights. You know those guys are built tough. They take kicks. knees, elbows to the face." A victorious El Mago said about his comeback fight.

It was everything you would want in a comeback fight and Juarez gives a large share of the credit to longtime friend and new trainer Alex Rincon. Rincon, a 27-year-old undefeated junior middleweight prospect, who hails from the Dallas area, worked the corner of Juarez. A first for Rincon, but something the young Dallasite excelled at, and it appears to be a match made in heaven. The two were roommates at the National Golden Gloves when they both represented Texas. Juarez said he plans on keeping Rincon in his corner in future fights " Alex gives me the work with strength and conditioning. It was good having him with me mentally and physically. He's not only a boxing trainer, but he does strength and conditioning as well, and those were tough."

In addition to Rincon, Juarez had Light heavyweight/super middleweight contender Eddie Ortiz in his corner. Ortiz's dad served as the cutman. Additionally, fellow Laredo native and 2021 breakthrough prospect Jorge Castaneda accompanied Juarez ringside. It was a who's who of young upcoming Texas fighters in El Mago's corner that got Juarez through a bit of nerves about fighting at heavyweight. Juarez got over the nerves pretty quickly saying "Once you know you can take the pop you're good." Juarez had previously campaigned at the light heavyweight limit of 175-pounds. He weighed 228 for his heavyweight debut, and McCarty tipped the scales at 240. Juarez plans on moving down to cruiserweight shortly saying " I always said I could drop back down to light heavyweight... When this year started, I looked back at it, I looked really skinny. The pop didn't feel the same in the amateurs and fighting at 178. I felt ok, but when I fought at 201, I was actually stopping people. I was walking around at one-ninety-something. I was stopping people and winning more at that weight. Maybe cruiserweight is the weight for me and I will stick at that weight."

Cruiserweight seems to be a perfect fit for the south Texan. He will sport amazing hand speed in the division and will still carry pop at the weight class. At 25 years old he has also filled out to full-blown cruiserweight. He won't look overweight or underweight he explained. Juarez plans on fighting once more in 2022, hopefully in late October or early November, before the holidays, but has to get with Roach, his manager, and iron out all those details. He said he plans on fighting at maybe "210 or 215 pounds" and that the layoff weight is "coming off slowly but surely."

Despite the layoff, Juarez remained sharp and said he is walking around at 229-pounds just a pound over where he fought on July 30th. He is staying in shape and on weight for a hopeful quick turnaround as he looks to get back to where he was before the pandemic layoff. That's an emerging prospect. Juarez aptly described his journey so far " Its a long road but looking back at its short road. I've been to camps in California, DC, Mexico, Dallas, Austin." he said and added he's still young and learning " It's true what they say, in boxing, you never stop learning. I am still learning. I am still young in the sport, very young actually."

Juarez, among others like Castaneda and top-ranked women's amateur standout Jennifer Lozano, has led the surge of boxing in the Gateway City. The Gateway City is quickly becoming not just one of the top hot spots for boxing in Texas. It is becoming one of the premier boxing hotspots anywhere in the country. Something Juarez is excited to be a part of "I am a hometown kid! ... I love Laredo. All I do is support Laredo things, businesses, boxers, fighters, etc. Laredo is getting up there, and to be a part of it makes me happy." It certainly is, and a healthy, sharp, and active Juarez could realistically become the first cruiserweight champion from Laredo in the not so distance future.