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.

Nick Molina Returns on Plant-Benavidez card at MGM Grand Las Vegas

Laredo native Nicholas Molina will look to bounce back from his first career blemish and will get to do so on boxing's biggest stage. Molina, whose record stands at 4-1-1 (3), dropped a split decision to Rio Grande Valley native Eduardo Guerra at the Payne Arena last December. The loss didn't keep the Gateway city naive down for long. He will now square off with undefeated prospect Daniel Blancas on the undercard of Caleb Plant VS David Benavidez at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. A massive opportunity for the 22-year-old Molina, an opportunity that he fully understands the magnitude of "It's a blessing, it's a huge blessing, I'm super grateful. For my hometown, I'm very happy, and I'm grateful. It's the biggest opportunity I have ever gotten in my life. It means the world to me to be able to show my talent, and show the world who I am and show what happened in the past, is in the past, and how I can move forward and overcome obstacles." Molina explained. Luey Villarreal, trainer and owner of Ferocious Fitness Boxing Gym in San Antonio, where Molina trains, doubled down on the youngster's motivation and said of Molina, "He came back to the gym dedicated and motivated. He's working harder than ever, and I appreciate that."

Molina turned pro in his home city back in April of 2019 and ran his record to 3-0 before the pandemic started. He came back after a 16-month layoff, jumped up two weight classes, shook off the rust, and scored a second-round knockout on short notice to move his record to 4-0. That's when Molina relocated to San Antonio to train.

The lone career loss in Molina's career has not kept him down for long. He actually describes it as a blessing in disguise "I know I could have changed the outcome easily, but ever since then, I have been getting a lot of calls, call after call, to fight in New York and California and different places where I wasn't getting calls before... It is a blessing in disguise... It's just a loss. I'm not going to keep dwelling on it. It's not over yet. I still have a long way to go... I needed it [the loss] to change my whole mindset."

Molina, for the first time, will enter the ring as an underdog. A new role that the 22-year-old accepts and expects to thrive in. He has actually always viewed himself as the underdog and has approached all of his fights with that mentality. The Laredoan explained, "My whole career, I have felt like the underdog, people didn't really see me, and I was worth more. You always have to have the underdog mentality. I just need to be focused and be ready."

Molina will certainly be taking the biggest challenge of his professional career when he steps into the ring on March 25th with Blancas. A win at the MGM grand on that Pay-Per-View card will put the kid from Laredo on a fast track to becoming the next world champion from Laredo, a city that is home to two former world champs, the legendary Canizales brothers, Orlando and Gaby.

"It's everybody's dream to have that belt around their waist." Molina explained when asked about potentially joining them, "I think it would be a blessing to my family and everyone who has been around me since day one. I have been through a lot in my life, ups and downs, but that would be the top of the mountain."

Sammy Castaneda Sets Record Straight in Co-Main! Plus Incredible Undercard in RGV

RGV native and fan favorite "El Gallo Fino" Sammy Castaneda exacted revenge on the rugged Houston-based veteran Julio Sanchez to move his record to 9-0-1 (7). Castaneda suffered the first and only blemish on his record. However, he righted that wrong at the Payne Arena in Hidalgo on Friday night. He stayed calm and patient, jabbing and maintaining the pace of the fight. The two traded hooks early with Castaneda's landing cleaner. The RGV native had a few moments early with the left hook early in the first round. He later scored with a nice counter right to close a competitive opening round. Castaneda relied much more on movement than he did in the first fight. While Sanchez looked to load up one shot. Sanchez was able to score with right hands over Castanedas low lead hand. A counter left hook put an off-balanced Castaneda on the floor in the second. However, the undefeated RGV native got up, dusted himself off, stayed calm, and took control of the fight starting in round three. Castaneda, on the advice of his corner, picked up the aggression and appeared to carry the third with precise left hooks and precise power shots on the inside. Sanchez scored with some clean counters and had answers. However, Castaneda was breaking his man down and seemed to chip away at that lead Sanchez built after the two-point round in the second. Castaneda landed clean left hooks one after another and mixed in some uppercuts in round four. By the fifth, it was a dog fight with Sammy leading the exchanges and Sanchez scoring with counters and catching Castaneda when he left himself open. However, it was Sanchez that was really starting to slow down as Castaneda slammed on the gas and let it go in the final round. The two traded on the inside throughout the final stanza. Castaneda landed a beautiful it on the right hand and followed up with a body shot to put an exclamation point on the fight and capture a hard-earned but clear points victory. Taking a majority decision by scores of 57-56 X2, with the third judge scoring 57-57 even.

In the opening bout of the evening Alex "El Bazooka" Ramos of Laredo moved his record to 5-1 (3) and put on a highly impressive display of power, dropping his rugged opponent Irving Tapia twice. Ramos battered his veteran opponent for the full 2:21 of the fight before a vicious left hook from "El Bazooka" but Tapia down for one final time. Ramos had older brother Jorge in the corner, and the pair seemed to work well together. 

The undercard also featured former WBA super bantamweight title holder Oscar Escandon of Ibague, Colombia, who showed even at 38 years old, he still has the craft and skills to compete at the highest level. The former champ jabbed his way in and then unleashed powerful right hands from a variety of angels. He outworked and out-landed his opponent,  Angel Tamez Colombian, beating his man up throughout a six-round affair. The Colombian scored with a thudding body shot late in the second that hurt his opponent badly. He stayed downstairs and dropped his man. Just moments later Escondon struck again with a left hook and right upper combo.  The battering continued throughout the fourth and fifth and the only question left was could it go the distance able to go the distance. A determined Tamez survived to the final bell. However, the scorecards were academic as Escandon took a wide decision by scores 60-53  and 59-54x2.

McAllen Native, knockout artist, and fan favorite Javi Vargas suffered his first career loss and dropped to 2-1 (2) when he dropped a competitive decision to Damian Guajardo of Zapata. Guajardo was not intimated by the power and reputation of the McAllen native and pressured Vargas and took the fight to him in what was an all-action fan-favorite slugfest. The judges preferred the constant pressure and punch output of Guajardo over Vargas's more precise punching and counter shots as the judges scored in favor of the Zapata native 40-36x2.

In a rematch of September's all-out slugfest between Laredo native Nick Molina and Edinburg native Eduardo Guerra. The first bout ended in a controversial draw in which most spectators thought Molina rolled to a clear victory. In the rematch, Molina was jabbing and moving a bit more and was scoring with a stiff jab that kept Guerra at bay. However, as the fight progressed the Edinburg native was able to get on the inside and apply pressure that wore Molina down and land chopping right hands on the inside. It was another highly competitive fight the judges ruled in favor of  Guerra's pressure as opposed to Molina's skills and jab. Two of the three judges scored for Guerra 39-37 with one scoring by the same tally in favor of Molina.

In a highly competitive and entertaining lightweight affair, Joshua Montoya of Lubbock outlasted "Hot Hands" Nelson Hampton to move his record to 4-3-2 as Hampton dropped to 9-6. After a career-best performance and capturing the Texas title Montoya celebrated with a backflip that he stuck perfectly. Montoya who is a natural 126-pounder took a big challenge in Hampton and did so at a sizeable weight disadvantage. The newly minted 135-pound Texas champ will likely not be spending much more time at the lightweight limit and will likely go back down to 126.

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). 

Carlos Alcocer to bring first of at least 5 cards a year to Gateway City on June 17th

Laredo is quietly becoming one of the premier fight cities. It has an impassioned and knowledgeable fan base that supports its local fighters. At the same time the "Gateway City" is producing several elite-level fighters such as Jorge Castaneda, Josh Juarez, and Nick Molina, in the amateur ranks, Jennifer Lozano has become a national and international champion and is currently representing Team USA in Turkey. There's a ton of talent for a city of around 250,000 people and now there's a promoter, a former fighter, who knows the industry inside and out, who wants to big that talent to the world championship stage. Former fighter and Laredo resident Carlos Alcocer founded Alcocer Entertainment and plans on bringing at least five fights a year to the Gateway City. Alcocer stated "that's what I am trying to do with my promotions give them at least five fights a year and get their records up. I know I can help the guys get their record up, I can protect my own from Laredo and give them a pathway to a championship and not just throw them to the lions"

The loyal fan base will certainly support more boxing shows and consistently show up for their Laredo fighters. There is something about Laredo fighters that is unique in boxing today. They simply aren't afraid to take the toughest fights. They aren't trying to take easy fights and build their record, they'll fight anyone, anytime. as Alcocer described "Everyone wants to watch a video on the opponent, check him out see some flaws but these Laredo fighters are ready to fight...They're not scared of anyone, it's a pretty tough city"

As for the night's main event, it's an intriguing and competitive fight between local fan favorite Jorge Ramos (7-3-1) vs Alec Magee (7-2) of El Paso. A huge fight and a must-win for both men and one that neither hesitated to accept as the promoter shared "they both said yes, they didn't hesitate at all! it's going to be a really good fight"

In the evening's co-main event is the highly touted undefeated prospect Nick Molina, a fighter everyone agrees has the talent and ability to reach the highest of highs will battle in a light heavyweight attraction against an opponent who has not yet been confirmed.

In other bouts of note Daniel “The Disciple” Villarreal who has a huge, loyal, following from Zapata will be in action and Robert Ocampo who is currently in camp with WBC super featherweight International silver champ Jorge Castaneda will be making his pro debut as well. 

It's an absolutely talent-loaded card and the first in a series that will help these young upstarts stay bust improve their craft and move on to bigger fights in the future. Fights that Alcocer thinks they can still do here in Laredo at the Arena "Sames Auto Arena" saying "there's a big arena, I feel that we can bring belts here and pack the arena"

Nick Molina Shines As Boxing in Laredo Returns

20-year old and  Laredoan and undefeated Jr. middleweight, Nick Molina, was planning on attending Fight Fest 9/11 in his native Laredo as a spectator watching his friends and local fighters throw down in the return of boxing to the Gateway City. Until he received a phone call just over a week ago, offering him a fight on the card. The catch was he needed to fight a touted fighter from Weslaco, Peter Balderas jr, who would be making his pro debut three weight classes above where he typically fights and had the WBC Super Bantamweight Champ Brandon Figueroa by his side. The fighter that Molina is, he gladly accepted.

The fearless but very undersized Molina stepped into the ring and just seconds into the bout got clipped on the chin and dropped. He calmly got up and showed incredible composure for a 20-year-old veteran of just three previous fights. Firing off the jab and he never lost focus. Out boxing Balderas from the outside he can see his larger opponent softening up. Snapping his head back with laser-like right hands. The first round saw Molina picking himself up off the canvas and within the next three minutes absolutely seize control of the fight. He picked up the pace and really started breaking him down Balderas in the second stanza. Clearly slowing down Bladeras threw a sloppy hook that Molina countered perfectly with a right hand that sent his opponent flailing into the ropes. Molina jumped on his wounded opponent like a dog on fear unleashing a barrage of power shots that put Balderas down and brought the referee in to call a halt to the bout with just seconds left in the second round. Molina jumped up three weight classes on a week's notice got himself up off the canvas and delivered a career-best performance securing a second-round TKO victory to move his record to 4-0 (4).

The rest of the card featured Danie "The Disciple" l Villareal of Zapata, Texas scoring an impressive third-round knockout over a game opponent in Ramiro Balli.  Villareal outboxed his opponent easily firing off a shotgun-like jab and broke his overmatched opponent down with a ferocious body attack and straight right hands to the head. He scored with a perfect left hook that staggered Balli. The Disciple unleashed a whirlwind of power shots leaving his opponents helpless against the ropes and unable to continue as the ref waived the bout off giving Villareal his fifth win in five pr fights. Villareal will headline the next FIght Fest, on October 29th in his hometown of Zapata. 

Alex "The Bazooka" Ramos bounced back nicely from his first career loss to blast out an outmatched veteran by the name of Hector Gutierrez, a veteran of 18 fights who hails from Mission, Texas and scored a vicious one-sided TKO victory. There was also an upset in the building as San Antonio-based Robert Ledesma, who has been in the ring with several world-class fighters, including Max Ornelas, Ray Ximenez, Juan Tapia, and Bam Rodriguez but he finally got his win over a big named fighter. The beneficiary of two very controversial knockdowns secured the victory over Cesar Garcia of Laredo by scores of 38-36 on all three cards. Ledesma moves his record to 3-7 while Garcia whose only other loss was to the prospect of the year Bam Rodriguez, falls to 11-2.

Two other local fighters were able to secure the first win of their professional careers. Jaime Gueverra of Laredo unleashed a ferocious body attack and broke down Austin Rivas of McAllen to secure the victory in his pro debut. Additionally, Oscar Barrera also from the Gateway City picked up the first win of his pro career. In Barrera's other two professional bouts he fought Steve Garagarza both times in two very close and contentious battles. Settling for a draw in the first and suffering a decision loss in the second. He bounced back from that and outlasted Manuel Lerma. taking a majority decision by scores of 40-36, 39-37 in his favor with the third judge scoring 38-38 even.

Boxing is Back In Laredo!

Laredo, the Gateway City, is quickly becoming one of the hotbeds of Texas boxing. The city that gave the boxing world the legendary Canizales brothers is again producing potential world-level talent at an alarming rate. Jorge Castaneda pulled a major upset over Otha Jones III on a Matchroom Card, Josh Juarez put on a masterclass performance on a Golden Boy card, and Jaime Jasso, started his career with two wins over really impressive highly experienced fighters and then recently dropped a very competitive decision to Floy Diaz, who is perhaps Top Ranks most regarded young prospect. Jasso was brought in to be an outmatched, undefeated opponent that was supposed to make Diaz look good. That was anything but the case as Jasso impressed and fought Diaz tooth and nail for the scheduled four rounds. 

what all these young South Texans have in common is they built themselves up on the Triple-A Promotions Fright Fest series in Laredo. Fight Fest 20 went down in Laredo back in March of 2020. However, due to the pandemic, this series which is producing such incredible talent was put to a temporary halt. It's been a year and a half since the last rendition of the fight series but it returns today (9/11/21) in a major way. On the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy, the hard-hitting prospects of Laredo, Texas will once again fill out the Sames Auto Arena. 

Undefeated super featherweight Daniel Villarreal will make his Laredo debut and look to move to 5-0.  Nick Molina who is a highly touted Jr Middleweight prospect, will show his fighter's mentality and warrior spirit will take a catchweight fight on extremely short notice and look to move his record to 4-0.  Additionally, Alex "Bazooka" Ramos, younger brother of Jorge Ramos, looks to bounce back from his first career loss, a 6-round slugfest with San Antonio-based prospect Javier Fernandez when he takes on veteran Hector Gutierrez of Mission, Texas. Two other young Gateway city natives will make their professional debuts. 112-pound Jaime Guevara and Super Middleweight Sonny Lique, both look to get their career off to a quick start.