Figueroa Impresses at New Weight Class, Cardenas Closes in on Title Shot

Former 122-pound world champion and all-action fan favorite Brandon "The Heartbreaker" Figueroa of Weslaco looked impressive in his featherweight debut. Following his very controversial loss to Stephen Fulton last November. He showed no ring rust in taking apart and handing Carlos Castro his second consecutive loss. After a feeling-out process in the first round, Figueroa got to work in the second and dropped Castro in the third with a left hook. The Rio Grande Valley native hit the gas and kept pouring on the punches and nearly getting the stoppage. Castro survived the round and tried to avoid the hard-hitting south Texan. However, by the sixth round southpaw's relentlessness paid off and he was able to turn his opponent around force him into the ropes, and unleashed a barrage of thudding and pin point accurate body shots that left Castro defenseless in the corner and forced the referee to stop the fight at the 2:11 mark of the sixth round. Figueroa moved his record to 23-1-1 (18). The bout was a WBC eliminator, placing the 25-year-old Figueroa, in a position to challenge newly minted champ Rey Vargas for the WBC featherweight strap and become a two-division world champion.

Also on the card was surging bantamweight prospect Ramon Cardenas of San Antonio fought in his hometown for the first time since taking a unanimous decision over Ramsey Luna in 2018. He boxed beautifully in a 10-round affair earning a unanimous decision over Michell Baanquez of Venezuela. The Alamo City native was able to fight off the pressure and nail. After a fairly even opening three rounds, Cardenas caught Baanquez with a left hook that wobbled him. He was able to counter his man brilliantly throughout the middle rounds. Stabbing him with the jab, avoiding the Venezuelan heavy artillery, and countering him with hooks and straight rights. Cardenas, like the consummate professional he is, closed the show out in impressive fashion, scoring with a left hook with just over 40 seconds in the bout that again buzzed his opponent to close the show. On his way to earning a unanimous decision victory by scores of 97-93x2 and 96-94. It was Cardenas's first fight with San Antonio-based trainer Chato Martinez. The two seemed to work well together and have a bright future.

Also on the card was highly touted prospect "X-man" Xavier Bocanegra hails from Donna in the Rio Grande Valley. The Blue chip prospect battered and outclassed an over-matched opponent by the name of Travis Crawford.  The RGV native badly wobbled Crawford with a pair of left hooks and then jumped on his stunned opponent and unleashed a barrage of power shots that forced the referee to call a  halt to the action at the 2;27 mark of round three. Giving Bocanegra his first stoppage victory and moving his record to 2-0 (1)

  Fellow Rio Grande Valley native Fabian Diaz of Edinburg made his pro debut a successful one. Earning a unanimous decision and winning a clear-cut but hard-earned decision over Julio Gomez of Mexico, a very game and durable opponent. Making the young Diaz dig a bit in his pro debut.

Hometown slugger Raymond "Tito" Guajardo was also on the card and ended an over 2-year-layoff. He had to settle for a disputed draw in his comeback fight. Most thought Guajardo had done enough, but the judges disagreed and declared the bout a draw. Guajardo's record moved to 5-1-1 (4). 

Four Texans Take the Ring at Alamodome

Four different Texans representing both the 210 and the 956 will have homecoming fights this weekend in the world-famous Alamodome in San Antonio. All four fighters must win fights and are in four very different stages of their careers. Most notably is Brandon "The Heartbreaker"  Figueroa. Figueroa looks to get back to a world championship and pound-for-pound status when he steps in the ring for the first time since losing a very controversial and disputed majority decision to Stephen Fulton. A fight no one thinks the Texan loss, outside of judges Dave Moretti and Tim Cheatham. Figueroa, the Rio Grande Valley native who made his hometown of Weslaco a household name the world over, will battle Cesar Castro in a WBC title eliminator. The fight will be contested in the featherweight division. Figueroa's first fight in the weight class and is just four pounds in the super bantamweight division where he held world titles. Castro's last two opponents, Luis Nery, whom he dropped a very contested decision, and Oscar Escandon, whom he stopped in the 10th round,  are common opponents with "The Heartbreaker", Figueroa,  stopped both men. A win for the RGV native will make him the mandatory challenger for the WBC featherweight champion, which will be determined in the night's main event between current WBC champ Mark Magsayo and Rey Vargas. 

Also on the card is the 20-1 (10) El Dinamita Ramon Cardenas of San Antonio is on the verge of a world title fight in the 118-pound division after his third-round TKO of Marvin Solano in Orlando, Florida, last August. He captured the vacant WBA continental America bantamweight title and was scheduled to fight in a title eliminator of his own. The 5th-ranked Cardenas was scheduled to fight Melvin Lopez, of Nicaragua. Cardenas had to pull out of the fight due to an injury. The 26-year-old  San Antonian is knocking on the door of a world title shot, one way or another, and a win on Saturday in front of his hometown fans might be exactly, what he needs to get a fight with the current WBA champ Naoya Inoue a fight with the pound for pound elite is something the rugged Cardenas welcomes 

Further down on the card are two youngsters, one looking to reinvigorate what was a sensational start to his career and the other looking to make a name for himself. Back in early 2020, San Antonio's Raymond "Tito" Guajardo was thought to be one of, if not, the brightest 154-pound prospects in the world. At merely 19 years old he sported simply ridiculous one-punch power and freakish man strength for a teenager. He scored one posterizing knockout after another. Running his record to 5-0 (4) Before he ran into party-crasher, Clay Collard, who dropped Guajardo early and then got up off the canvas after Guajardo scored rallied back and scored a knockdown of his own, and finished off the Alamo City native. It has been a tumultuous, two years for Tito, but all that is behind him now and the hard-hitting southpaw looks to pick back up on what was a once incredibly-promising career. 

Amateur stand-out and Donna native"X Man" Xavier Bocanegra looks to continue his success and just as the fellow Rio Grand valley natives Omar and Brandon Figueroa put their town of Weslaco on the map, Xavier and his little brother amateur stand-out, Ranulfo, look to make Donna, Texas, world-famous for producing world champion brothers. Xavier caught the eye of famed trainer Ronnie Shields, owner of the Plex Gym in Houston. After a sparring session that Bocanegra was highly impressive. Shields started working with the elder Bocanegra son and turned him pro. The Donna native made his pro debut a successful one scoring a unanimous decision victory, winning all four rounds on all three cards back in April on the undercard of Lubin-Fundora in Las Vegas.